A 2016 photo of the main Kappa Sigma fraternity house. (Courtesy of the Carnegie Library for Local History, Boulder)
Editor’s note: This story contains descriptions of events leading to and proceeding an alleged sexual assault.
Students who have experienced a traumatic incident can contact free and confidential support resources through the University of Colorado Boulder’s Office of Victim Assistance on their website or by calling 303-492-8855.
Moving to End Sexual Assault provides support to survivors in the broader Boulder area. Information on their resources can be found here or by calling 303-443-7300.
Boulder police arrested a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity on Oct. 4 after he was accused of a sexual assault that occurred in August.
According to the arrest affidavit, a woman told police that Ethan Hirsch, 19, sexually assaulted her early in the morning of Aug. 18 at a Kappa Sigma fraternity annex house, located at 1453 Broadway St. in Boulder. The woman told police the assault occurred sometime after she and her friend arrived at the house around 2 a.m. coming from Sigma Nu, another fraternity.
“We trust the judicial system to give Mr. Hirsch his fair day in court,” wrote Lara Marks Baker, an attorney representing Hirsch, in an email statement provided to the Daily Camera.
Hirsch was enrolled as a student at the University of Colorado Boulder when the alleged assault took place. Hirsch withdrew enrollment on Sept. 7, 2022, according to an email statement from the university provided to the CU Independent.
The Kappa Sigma fraternity is not a part of the Interfraternity Council on the Hill (IFC), an organization that represents CU Boulder’s non-campus affiliated fraternities, and is not locally affiliated, according to the organization’s website. The IFC expelled the fraternity in 2015 for violating IFC rules.
On the day of the alleged assault, Hirsch, who the woman said she knew in high school, sat down next to her. At that point, the woman turned to her friend and said “I’m not hooking up with him and I do not want to,” according to the affidavit.
In the affidavit, Hirsch told police he was taking the woman on a tour of the house, but the woman said she had no memory of going to Hirsch’s room but remembers waking up there in the morning with a heavy weight on her back.
A sexual assault examination found pink bruises on the woman’s left shoulder, which aligned with where the woman said Hirsch had pinned her down, according to the affidavit.
“While we cannot discuss specific cases due to privacy laws, our community should know that we take allegations of sexual assault seriously, and those found responsible are held accountable,” the university said in the email statement provided to the CU Independent.
The reported sexual assault occurred shortly after another assault was reported in Williams Village around 10 p.m. on Aug. 17. Shortly after the reports, CU Boulder announced the creation of a sexual misconduct task force, that was in development before the reported assaults, which recently held a town hall to discuss the issues surrounding sexual violence.
“CU Boulder is committed to continuously improving our prevention and education efforts and our response resources to meet the needs of our campus community,” the university said in its statement.
CU Boulder has resources for advocacy and support for incidents that occur on and off campus through the Office of Victim Assistance (OVA) and the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC).
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Celia Frazier at Celia.Frazier@colorado.edu.
