Amy Love

Opinion Editor

aml7458@psu.edu

During Penn State’s White Out game on September 18, there was an incident that occured in the student section of the stadium. Five students of Penn State reported to University police that they were inappropriately touched during the game against Auburn. 

Liam Kirk, who is from Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, has been accused of groping three women in the student section. According to court documents, he was also accused of hitting one woman on top of the head, as well as elbowing another in the head. 

It was reported that he was “highly intoxicated” and “caused great annoyance” for those who happened to be seated near him. Kirk was not permitted in the student section. 

According to court documents, he is being charged with three misdemeanor counts of indecent assault, one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct, two summary counts of harassment and one summary count of public drunkenness.

Penn State did issue a timely warning after the incident was reported. The university issued the warning as a “possible threat to the community.” This was a result of multiple students reporting that an “unknown male touched them inappropriately without consent.”

Kirk is currently a sophomore at University of Delaware. He is also a running back for the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens. He has been suspended from the team “until further notice,” according to an email that was written by a university spokesperson. 

He has only played for the team once during the 2021 spring season and is now suspended for an unknown amount of time. The chances of him being able to play this season are slim. 

Delaware played Rutgers on September 18 and Kirk was not listed on the travel roster. Instead, he seemed to choose to attend the Penn State game rather than attend his own game. 

His case has been referred to the University of Delaware’s Student Conduct. There is a chance that his status at University of Delaware is uncertain. This university has had several on-campus protests due to a member of a fraternity who attacked a female. He was charged with kidnapping, assault and strangulation on October 11. A purpose of the protest was to go against the “violence against women that is allowed to occur on campus,” said Sarah Scott, who attends University of Delaware. 

Although these violent encounters did not happen on campus at Delaware, the school has an idea of how this case should be handled and thought of.