UVa Rape Story Reporter: School 'Stonewalled' Me

Sabrina Rubin Erdely's story on alleged sexual assault at the University of Virginia has made waves, with the university temporarily shutting down fraternities as it investigates the horrific report. Now, Erdely is offering a glimpse into her experience reporting the story, telling the Washington Post that the university stood in the way of her efforts to retrieve data on sexual assault and university policies. "At first, I thought they were just incompetent,” she says. Later, "it occurred to me that they were stonewalling. All they cared about was (protecting) their reputation."

The university says Erdely received "all of the information and statistics we are able to disclose." Either way, Erdely is pleasantly surprised at the reaction to the article. "I thought the reaction would be, ‘We know about this problem,’ and they’d turn the page," she says. Jackie, the alleged victim, "was absolutely bursting to tell this story,” Erdely says; it had never been reported before, the Post notes. “I could not believe how it poured out of her in one long narrative," Erdely says of Jackie. No one allegedly involved in the crime has directly denied the allegations, the Post reports. Meanwhile, fraternity parties have been suspended at San Diego State amid reports of sexual assaults. (More University of Virginia stories.)