'Horrific' attempt to storm LGBTQ house at Bucknell University prompts an outside investigation

On Monday, The New York Timesreported that Bucknell University, a liberal arts institution in Pennsylvania, is opening an investigation into a "horrific" incident in which a group of 15 to 20 people tried to violently storm an LGBTQ affinity house, leaving its residents traumatized.

"Tyler Luong, a junior who is a resident assistant, said he was in his room at Fran's House studying for a final exam when someone texted a house group chat thread warning residents to lock their windows and doors," reported Jesus Jiménez and Marie Fazio. "He rushed to an upstairs bathroom where, he said, residents who had crowded inside were holding a window closed. People outside yelled 'Let us in.' Someone saw a man urinating on the front porch. Others banged on a metal flagpole outside and pounded on the front door, screaming 'Let us in, this is our house,' a witness said. One student said that about eight people climbed to the roof."

According to the report, by the time Public Safety responded to emergency calls, all but four of the rioters had fled. Worse, "the officers did not speak to him or other residents, he said, and instead spoke with the remaining intruders, 'shaking hands with them, reminiscing about what it felt like to be a handsome young man with hair in college.'"

Campus administrators say they are looking into the matter, said the report.

"In their letter to students, the administrators said that the public safety department's response 'was lacking in myriad ways' and that the university had hired a firm to investigate and 'implement corrective and disciplinary measures as appropriate,'" said the report. "The university, they said, had also hired a firm to investigate the harassment allegations raised by residents of Fran's House."

Around the country, LGBTQ students still face discrimination and threats. The DOJ is currently looking into an incident in South Dakota where pro-Trump students staged a "coordinated attack" on an LGBTQ organization during Homecoming Week and the school allegedly did nothing to stop it.