Two students allegedly were assaulted early Sunday morning around 1:30 a.m. near the corner of 17th Street and Gordon Avenue shortly after leaving a fraternity party in the area.
Third-year Engineering students Ricky Yau and Brian Welsh were walking on 17th Street when they were attacked by three men, according to a Charlottesville Police Department report. The report described the attackers as young, black males.
Yau and Welsh left a party at the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity house with the intention of taking Safe Ride or getting a ride from a friend of Welsh's.
They were attacked less than a block from the fraternity house, according to Yau.
"I was not quite aware of what was going on," Yau said. "I took several hits to the face, head and chest. I can't quite remember walking back to the house."
Welsh said he also does not remember many details about the assault.
"I was hit in the head and fell down to the ground," Welsh said. "I stayed on the ground and didn't move."
Yau and Welsh returned to the Phi Sigma Kappa house and received help. Patrick Adair, a Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity brother, said Yau and Welsh were shaken up by the assault.
"We called the police, and they came right to the house and took a statement," Adair said. "The guys were taken to a hospital and checked out."
Adair noted that police arrived quickly, in part because they were already in the area responding to a similar assault.
The party was the fraternity's bid night party and was open only to fraternity brothers and pledges, Adair said. Welsh is a Phi Sigma Kappa brother and Yau attended the party as a pledge.
Yau serves as the chair of the Student Council Safety Concerns Committee, and said he plans to work with the police to investigate whether similar assaults are a problem for University students.
"Safety should not be compromised," Yau said. "If there is a serious problem, we will tackle that this year."
Yau added that he plans to work with the Inter-Fraternity Council regarding safety near fraternity houses.
The motive behind the assault is unclear. Yau threw his cell phone and wallet to the ground when he was attacked, but did not think that his attackers wanted to rob him.
"I think they just wanted to beat us up," Yau said.
Yau also said he thought he heard confusing racial remarks.
"There were racial remarks passed on to me. They used the 'n' word on me, which is odd because I'm Asian," Yau said.
The police are investigating the incident, but none of the attackers have been identified.
Ultimately, Yau said the attack would not change where he goes on weekends, but that he will be more careful.
Welsh emphasized how students often don't expect this sort of incident to happen to them.
"It was very scary -- you don't really think about it that much," Welsh said. "We weren't walking alone, and we were still attacked, and it was pretty shocking that it happened."
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