You may have heard about it, you may not have. It's been circulating, but if you haven't seen it, here's a recap for you.

A sexual assault case happened at Illinois State University, the school that I attend, know and love. Two men, a father and a son, followed a group of students into Hewett Hall, a dorm located in East Campus at ISU. The father, Shawn Childs Sr., bought liquor for a group of students. A victim recalls that she saw Childs Sr. put a pill in her drink. His son, Shawn Childs Jr., then raped her after twice after his father spiked her drink. The pair was going to head back to Chicago when they were caught at the train station, and arrested by police, and the police then found 22 ecstasy pills in Shawn Childs Sr.'s possession. He had a criminal background that included attempted murder and domestic battery.

It occurred during preview, which is an event that incoming freshmen attend to get acquainted with the campus, sample major schedules, sample food from the dining center, get to meet other incoming students and professors, get to sample dorm life and, overall, get a taste of what college will be like.

Preview is an incredibly beneficial program for students that is well run by professors and students. The fact that this happened during something that I experienced and that I felt was incredibly helpful for me, completely disturbs me. I went through preview last year, along with most of my friends, and upcoming sophomores. I have many friends attending ISU as freshmen this year, and my heart raced and my stomach dropped when I read this, and I feared that it could have been one of them. Thankfully, it was not.

This hurts me beyond any explanation that I can give. I can only imagine the parents of almost every single one of those prospective students only focusing on this incident. But what hurts me the most is what the victim experienced. She was trying to have an experience we all wanted to, an inviting orientation for the college she wished to attend and succeed at. She was probably a lot like I was as an incoming freshman. Nervous, excited, curious. It should have never ended up this way, it never should.

I fear for every student that looks into ISU. I fear for every parent when they discover their child thinks about attending Illinois State. Why? Why do I fear this? I love Illinois State, so why wouldn't I want everyone to consider it?

I fear that every time the name Illinois State University comes up, that someone will tie it to this tragedy. I fear that the supportive environment provided by staff, and the seemingly endless opportunities to excel at ISU will be overlooked, because sexual assault will be the only thing that people can tie to ISU. Mostly, I fear that students will not want to attend Illinois State because they are fearful of what will happen to them.

This is such a tragic event, and I cannot explain how deeply this angers and hurts the normal community and Illinois State University students. But we will not let this define this university, and I hope that the victim of this assault does not let it define her either.

To the victim,

I pray for you. I ache for you. We ache for you. I will never understand what you went through. I am so sorry, and I hope that you can get through this. Please know that you are not alone, and we all stand with you.