This story contains content related to sexual misconduct, which may be distressing to some readers. If you or someone you know is struggling, you can call La Piñon at 575-526-3437. The Office of Institutional Equity also provides resources at https://equity.nmsu.edu or 575-646-3635.
In a $1 million settlement signed in July 2025, the New Mexico State University Board of Regents agreed to mandate consent training for every student. This settlement effectively dismisses a lawsuit from a 2022 on-campus rape case. The lawsuit named the Board of Regents and Aizen Robert Saucedo as defendants and accused the university of failing to protect the victim. The Round Up does not publish the names of sexual assault victims.
This settlement brings to light the issue of sexual misconduct on campus, something the Office of Institutional Equity (OIE) Interim Director Aisha Gutierrez said remains common.
“We do get a couple cases every semester of student-involved sexual assault that go all the way to hearing. Of course, that’s what’s being reported,” Gutierrez said.
According to the NMSU Police Department’s 2021 Annual Security Report, reports of rape peaked in 2018. In October 2019, The Round Up reported 12 rapes were reported in 2018—four times the number in 2017.
The 2021 Annual Security Report shows in 2019, seven rapes were reported. According to the 2023 Annual Security Report, four rapes were reported in 2020, two were reported in 2021, and seven were reported in 2022. The 2024 Annual Security Report records in 2023, two on-campus rapes were reported.
Due to changes in reporting, there are some differences between the number of rapes reported in the Annual Security Reports for 2021 and 2023 compared to the number of criminal sexual offenses reported in the Daily Crime Logs for those years. The Annual Security Reports for both 2021 and 2023 record two rape cases. The Daily Crime logs for 2021 and 2023 show four cases of Criminal Sexual Penetration and one case of Criminal Sexual Contact in both years. Police Chief Justin Dunivan attributed this to “the classification related to our changes with NIBRs and UCR reporting.” NIBRS refers to the National Incident Based Reporting System and UCR refers to Uniform Crime Reporting.
Annual Security Reports keep record of crime statistics for NMSU from three years prior to the year the report is published. Because of this, the number of on-campus rapes for 2024 and 2025 have not yet been published. In the Daily Crime Log for 2024, Criminal Sexual Penetration was reported five times. In 2025, it was reported three times between Jan. 1 through June 13 and once in the last 60 days. No cases of Criminal Sexual Contact were reported in 2024 or 2025 so far.
According to the Daily Crime Logs for 2018 through 2024 there were a total of 40 Criminal Sexual Penetration cases and six Criminal Sexual Contact cases reported between 2018 and 2024. Two cases were reported as both Criminal Sexual Penetration and Criminal Sexual Contact: one in 2018 and another in 2019. Twenty of the total rape cases were recorded as “Closed,” “Suspended” or “Inactive.” Twenty-four cases were recorded as “Open” or “Active”— about 55%.
Although sexual assault affects people across all demographics, Gutierrez said the OIE mostly sees reports coming from women and LGBTQIA+ people. She said part of this may be due to social stigmas discouraging straight, cisgender men from reporting sexual misconduct.
“The male population is just as susceptible,” Gutierrez said. “But again, we have to consider reporting numbers, right? Are males reporting sexual assault? Because there’s still that stigma, right, that maybe men can’t be sexually assaulted. So, we do have to consider, are they reporting?”
The lawsuit resulting in the $1 million settlement alleges the accused was an acquaintance of the victim. Gutierrez said this is common among sexual assault cases.
“This sort of world view that, you know, the assailant is going to pop out of a bush, right, or grab you off the side of the street—I’m not saying it doesn’t happen,” Gutierrez said. “It’s just not as prevalent. It’s more likely to be someone that you know, someone that you’ve met.”
Following the implementation of mandatory consent trainings, Gutierrez said she expects the number of reports will increase at first, when people realize they may have experienced a sexual assault in the past. Later, Gutierrez said, the consent training may help create a culture of respect, resulting in fewer cases.
What Gutierrez said she hopes will come out of the mandatory consent training is a more sexually educated student population.
“I don’t think there’s the idea that you can get away with sexual assault here at NMSU,” Gutierrez said. “But I do think that maybe the education system has maybe failed our community in preparing our students to be sexually active in a community.”
