By the Spectator Editorial Staff

The information in the most recent incident email also states that, “At the request of the reporting student, the College has contacted the New York State Police.” Subsequently, we now know that on Aug. 30, a Hamilton student was arrested and charged with felony third-degree criminal sexual act, according to a report by

Syracuse.com

.

As a campus publication responsible for covering the Hamilton community, we spent the last week beginning to reach out to the appropriate sources in an effort to provide a comprehensive overview of the response from the student body and administration to this incident. Given the gravity of the event in question, and out of respect for the discretion required

to ensure effective sexual misconduct policies, we have chosen hold off on publishing this article until next week, when we feel that we will be able to present a more informative, fair, and sensitive piece.

In last week’s editorial, we posed the challenge of asking critical questions of the community to “gain a better understanding of what our Hamiltonian identity is at this moment.” Such a task is difficult because of incidents like the one that occurred last week. It is neither comfortable nor reassuring to confront the realities of sexual misconduct within any group, let alone one as small and familiar as ours. Still, it is essential. We intend to continue to address this topic and others like it within our means and with an eye towards progress, and we expect most — if not all — of the community will do the same.

As Dean Martinez also suggested in her email, it is always a good idea to take the opportunity to review the College’s sexual misconduct policy and the resources available — both of which can be found on the Hamilton College website — should you or anyone you know need help. We remain engaged and here for one another.

Best,

The Spectator