USC says there was "troubling delay" in acting on fraternity sexual assault reports

The University of Southern California on Friday said there was a "troubling delay" in alerting the campus community about allegations of drugging and sexual assault at a fraternity.

USC President Carol Folt said that in late September its Relationship & Sexual Violence Prevention Services, a counseling resource, received between five and seven "confidential disclosures" of possible drugging and sexual assault at a fraternity. Campus-wide communications weren't sent until about a month later.

"We now know that there was a troubling delay in acting on this information, and specifically in evaluating it for notification to the community," she said in a letter to the USC community.