If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit hotline.rainn.org
This story is extremely personal and does contain some content warnings that everyone should be aware of prior to reading. I talk about my experience when my drink got spiked at a party I went to, as well as the negative comments I received since I was not taken advantage of. If you’re uncomfortable with any of these topics, don’t feel pressured to continue reading, and you can click off the article at any point if you get uncomfortable.
It’s an extremely daunting experience when you’re out at a party and your drink gets spiked. Your immediate thought is obviously going to be the worst case scenario when you realize what has happened. You’re going to become extremely thankful for everything the next morning when all that happened to you was the spiking.
It was a really strange experience for me when I had gone out one night to a fraternity party and left the party feeling extremely drunk compared to what I had drank. It was to the point where my boyfriend had to carry me up his stairs and put me in his bed since I could not walk on my own. I had this ignorant belief whenever anyone talked about bad things happening to college girls when they went out — I never imagined that anything would ever happen to me. When it did, I had no idea who to call. I called the hospital repeatedly saying I was convinced I was spiked. I was told countless times that getting tested for things in my system was pointless since I wasn’t sexually assaulted.
I eventually reached out to one of my professors that I was extremely close with. I told her exactly what happened to me, and she told me she would go with me to make a formal complaint to Bradley University. This was to make them aware of what was happening on their campus. I met with Anne Hollis, the executive director of Student Support Services, which is the first point of contact for anyone that’s dealt with something like this on campus. When you talk to her she makes an official report for the school, plans your next steps, and directs you to who you need to talk to next if necessary.
I felt validated because Bradley was finally taking my experiences seriously.
During my freshman year, I had an encounter with another student who forced me down to make out with me. It thankfully never advanced to anything more serious, but I had been extremely dismissive about my experience since, once again, I had not been traditionally sexually assaulted. It was beyond upsetting for me when I was told my experience wasn’t as important as it could’ve been; therefore, no action was taken. You can imagine my hesitation when I was told to go back to someone in a similar department about an experience that felt less than the first experience I had.
Luckily, Anne took me extremely seriously the entire time we talked. I had mentioned what had previously happened to me, and she sincerely apologized for it. She told me she would look into it and have it properly taken care of if I wanted her to. Along with that, she was beyond supportive of me when I told her I felt like my experience wasn’t important enough to come forward about since nothing serious happened. By the end, I was affirmed in my feelings and validated as much as I could be. I was repeatedly being told that it was unfair and unacceptable, and it was completely normal to not feel 100 percent after it all. I was also told that my experience was just as important as someone that had been traditionally sexually assaulted since my personal property was assaulted without my consent, and therefore is classified as sexual assault. Anne even told me that if I needed to take a day of classes off at all to reach out to her, she would let my professors know for me with no questions asked. She was amazing with everything she had done for me in that process.
I was also told that I was the first person to come forward about getting spiked with nothing happening after, since it normally ended with a sexual assault or advancing of some kind. She worked closely with me to figure out what my next steps should be based on what I wanted out of the situation. I told her very honestly, I just wanted more awareness for students on what to do about getting spiked, since I had no idea at all – I didn’t even know who to reach out to to figure out what I should do.
Following that meeting, big changes within Bradley have begun to be talked about. Although most of it is not finalized, we’re beginning to have more awareness about where students should go after getting spiked if they wanted to get a drug test. For future reference, which I learned the hard way, you’re supposed to go to an ER instead of a prompt care facility. There is also more awareness being brought up with groups like HEAT and offices like the wellness office and our counseling office. I was assured that these things would be implemented and I could be part of that process as I wanted to be in order for it to be done in an effective way from the viewpoint of both a student and a victim.
I am really proud of the way that Bradley handled this, and I am thankful to Anne for being so attentive to me throughout the whole process from meeting with me initially to emailing me to say she was thinking about me and hoping I was doing okay. I encourage anyone that’s dealt with something like this and is ready to go to the Student Support Office in Sisson 101 to see if Anne can help you too. You’re extremely important and valid in your experiences.