An alleged victim of a sexual assault off and on-campus is raising residence hall security concerns to the university.
In an email sent to the university today, Adison Harman said after watching a TikTok published by the Kentucky Kernel, she was “deeply concerned” by the university’s safety protocols not being consistently enforced.
The Kentucky Kernel’s TikTok showed reporters entering all residence halls on UK’s campus to see if they would be able to enter without checking in.
Out of the 19 residence halls, Kentucky Kernel reporters were only stopped at Blazer Hall.
A different reporter was sent shortly after to Blazer Hall and was not stopped.
According to Harman, the Kernel’s investigation showed a “breakdown” in the university’s safety measures that are designed to protect students and was extremely alarming.
“What happened to me could have been prevented if the university’s own policies had been properly enforced,” Harman said.
UKPD sent out an email on Sept. 22, 2024, reporting the alleged sexual assault on the crime bulletin that occurred “over multiple days off-campus and on-campus inside the victim’s room in a residence hall.”
Harman reported to police that Chase McGuire, 22, sexually assaulted her off-campus and in the William T. Young Library parking lot on Sept. 19, 2024. McGuire also allegedly raped Harman in her Chellgren Hall dorm room later that night.
The case against McGuire was dismissed by a Fayette County grand jury on March 18, 2025.
“Students should feel safe in their dorms, and right now, it is evident that there are serious gaps in how security protocols are being carried out,” Harman said.
UK’s Open Records Office denied the initial request filed by the Kentucky Kernel regarding non-UK student visitors checking into on-campus residence halls.
The request was filed as part of a Kernel investigation of residence hall visitation protocol compliance, following the arrest of McGuire.
The UK Open Records Office said providing records of non-UK student guests would be “considered an invasion of personal privacy” under a Kentucky statute of the Open Records Act. According to the UK Open Records Office, the records requested were considered “preliminary” and therefore exempt.
UK provided the open records to the Kernel on May 5, 2025, as the court ruled the documents the Kernel was seeking were public records.
The received records show McGuire was checked into Chellgren Hall from Sept. 18, 2024, at 6:54 a.m. until Sept. 20, 2024, at 5:44 a.m.
McGuire was then checked back in on Sept. 20, 2024, at 5:44 a.m. and was checked out at 10:07 a.m. that day.
UK’s spokesperson Jay Blanton said the safety and security of students, faculty and staff is the university’s top priority.
“Per the Code of Student Conduct, students are required to check in visitors at residence hall front desks,” Blanton said. “It is a deeply concerning reality — and one supported by national data — that in the vast majority of sexual assault cases, the perpetrator is known to the survivor.”
Harman said she “urges” the university to enforce all dorm access policies and properly train staff.
“No student should have to go through what I experienced, especially when it could have been avoided,” Harman said.
