A male student was assaulted in Massell Quad Friday, Aug. 31, after refusing to unlock the door of a residence hall around midnight for an intruder outside, Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan said. Callahan's campuswide e-mail after the incident said, "The student was sitting outside when he was approached by a white male described to be in his mid 20s, 5 feet 9 inches approximately 170 pounds with short brown hair."

After the student refused to let the intruder into the building, the intruder punched the student in the face, Callahan said.

"The suspect started swearing at [the student], tried to grab his keys and then punched him," Callahan wrote in the e-mail.

"Police think alcohol was a factor in what happened," he said.

"The student called the University Police who looked in the area and couldn't find anybody," Callahan said.

Courtney Choate '11, a Massell Quad resident, said last week that she heard shouts from inside her room at around the time of the incident, but wasn't sure that what she heard was from the assault.

A police notice of the assault was posted in campus buildings to notify the community of the incident as part of a new effort to comply with the "Timely Notice" provisions of the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act of 1998, Callahan's e-mail explained.

According to the Office of Public Safety's Web site, there were three aggravated assaults in both 2004 and 2005. There were also two non-police aggravated assaults in 2004 and one in 2005.

"It is the duty of the institution to warn of possible 'dangerous conditions' on its property; an 'affirmative duty' exists to warn of possible peril at the hands of a third party," Callahan wrote.

The e-mail reminded students to be careful walking around campus and to utilize escort safety services. It also urged students to lock all interior and exterior residence hall doors and report door and lock concerns to the campus police.

Students were also asked to report any information they know about the incident to Brandeis Police Detectives at (781) 736-4207 or (781) 736-4243.