A University of Chicago sophomore accused of sexual assault in a newly filed lawsuit had his campus social life interrupted only after the court filing made his name public, according to the school’s student newspaper.
Kevin Shim, a computational and applied mathematics and physics major, allegedly assaulted a 19-year-old woman at an Alpha Delta Phi party on Feb. 7. The Chicago Maroon reported that Shim, a South Korea native who attended Seoul Foreign School before enrolling at UChicago, continued attending classes, posing for photos with fraternity brothers, and receiving invitations to social events through this fall.
Shim even appeared on an invitation to a “Champagne and Shackles” party co-hosted by Alpha Delta Phi and the Delta Gamma sorority, an event where attendees are handcuffed together until they finish a bottle of champagne. The invitation went out Oct. 15, according to copies reviewed by the Maroon. He was later scrubbed from the event and did not attend.
Litzy Tafolla, Delta Gamma’s president, told the Maroon that the event took place before the lawsuit became public on Oct. 19 and that “no one in Delta Gamma knew about the assault” until that point. Tafolla declined to specify the exact date of the party when asked by the publication.
The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court by an unnamed “Jane Doe” who is not a UChicago student, alleges that Shim gave her a shot that left her unsteady and lightheaded before taking her to a secluded bedroom at the fraternity house. According to the 42-page complaint, Shim then made “unwanted and nonconsensual sexual advances” as Doe “lost all physical and verbal ability to refuse.” Though her ability to speak was impaired, Doe pleaded with Shim to wear a condom, which he refused, before penetrating her “without her consent,” the filing states.
After the alleged assault, Doe was left alone and unconscious until a friend discovered her, according to court papers, though other fraternity members initially blocked the friend from going upstairs to search for her. Doe is seeking a trial by jury and more than $200,000 in damages plus legal fees.
Shim is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, which instead names Alpha Delta Phi’s national organization, its UChicago chapter, the University of Chicago, and the university police department. Photos posted online showed Shim posing with his Alpha Delta Phi brothers as recently as this spring, the Maroon reported.
As of Tuesday, Shim had moved out of his university-owned dorm room and been suspended from the fraternity, according to the newspaper. However, his name still appeared in the UChicago directory as of Thursday. A lawyer for Shim told The Post that his reasons for leaving campus this week were unrelated to the allegations. Alpha Delta Phi’s national organization did not specify when fraternity leadership first learned of the allegations or when Shim was suspended, the Maroon reported.
The lawsuit emerged just days after separate sexual assault allegations surfaced against another UChicago fraternity. In that incident, a young woman claimed she was raped at a different frat house earlier this month while a group of men outside the bathroom door allegedly cheered “when’s my turn” and “let me in.”
The University of Chicago, its police department, and Alpha Delta Phi’s national organization did not immediately respond to requests for comment.