Nineteen of the remaining cases resulted in suspension, with some students permitted to return in as little as nine weeks, the records show. In the other 10 cases, students found responsible for sexual assault received probation or a warning.

The findings come as scrutiny of campus accountability intensifies nationally. At Cornell University, two of seven students accused in an alleged gang rape were found responsible and both were expelled; the other five received suspensions, probation, or writing assignments. In New York, where state law requires universities to report discipline for sexual misconduct, 11 campuses enrolling at least 10,000 students a year did not expel a single student for sexual violence between 2018 and 2024, according to reporting by USA Today.

At UChicago, students have pressed administrators for stricter minimum sanctions following two recent reports of sexual assaults tied to the university, including a rally on the quad in late October with Jane Doe.

"Universities remove students for plagiarism," said Nicole Bedera, a sociologist who studies campus sexual assault and authored "On The Wrong Side: How Universities Protect Perpetrators and Betray Survivors of Sexual Violence." "That's not illegal. That is not a crime. That is just a norm that they have set."

Bedera said many universities beyond UChicago allow students found responsible for sexual assault to remain enrolled and graduate. "We're asking our schools right now: 'Why is this not a norm that you care about?'" she said. "Why are you happy to have the name of your institution on the diploma of a violent person?"

UChicago's process begins when an associate dean reviews information from the survivor and the accused and either dismisses the complaint, resolves it administratively, or refers it to a discipline committee composed of students, staff, and professors from across the university. Illinois law requires colleges to report to the attorney general how many students are suspended, expelled, or otherwise disciplined for sexual misconduct violations. UChicago's faculty senate also requests the data, and the university posts detailed annual reports online — but those reports do not explain why students found responsible are or are not expelled.

University spokesperson Gerald McSwiggan said in a written statement that UChicago takes reports of sexual misconduct "extremely seriously, with care and support for victims," and that disciplinary committee members are trained on the school's harassment, discrimination, and sexual misconduct policy.

"Because the policy covers a wide range of sexual misconduct, the committee carefully determines sanctions on a case-by-case basis after a thorough review of the nature and severity of the conduct involved," McSwiggan wrote.

The records illustrate how sanctions can vary. During the 2023-24 school year, the committee found a graduate student responsible for drugging and videotaping someone engaged in sexual activity while they were unconscious; the student received probation and was barred from holding student leadership positions. In 2021-22, a student found responsible for sexual assault was initially suspended but later expelled after the committee determined the student had committed two more sexual assaults.

"The perpetrators of sexual violence in those spaces are on a fast track to be in control of our social institutions moving forward," Bedera said. "If this is how they're taught to seek power and privilege, if this is where they are taught impunity — that is a lesson that follows them after they graduate."

Most students do not report their assaults to college officials at all, according to a 2020 report based on survey data from the Association of American Universities. For those who do, the consequences can be severe. Christina Zuba, an attorney with the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation who supports survivors through campus investigations, said her clients often ask: "Can I stay if I lose my case, and can I stay if I win my case and he's not removed from campus?" Many decide to leave, she said.

Nationally, two in five survivors surveyed in 2020 by the advocacy group Know Your IX took a leave of absence, transferred, or dropped out after reporting their assaults to college officials. Survivors who remain often struggle with mental health challenges and difficulty focusing on coursework, according to the AAU survey data.

Zuba said colleges must do more to support students and keep them safe. "If a person wants to continue on at that school to reclaim their life, or to refuse to have their life further upended or damaged by the harm another person caused to them, they should be able to do that," she said. For too many survivors, she added, that support never comes — leaving them without a degree and with thousands of dollars in student debt while the person who harmed them crosses the commencement stage.