On Sept. 12, the North Wind submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to Northern Michigan University, after its ‘Incident Awareness’ email about an alleged serial sexual assaulter who attacked two different women in three days across two dormitories.

FOIA allows the public to procure otherwise hidden information held by the government, a business or, in this case, a university. The FOIA request submitted by the North Wind runs as follows:

“Regarding the sexual assault at Northern Michigan University on 9/8/2025, as per the ‘Incident Awareness’ email. I request: the name of the subject, where/if they are being held, a police report of the incident, the victims’ testimonies, the testimony of the subject, what emergency department(s) participated in this event, what block or floors the events took place in, is the subject still able to attend NMU, if the NMU intends to expel the subject, if not then when/what would cause them to, and what the legal status of the subject is currently.”

NMU legally had five days to respond and did so in four.

“Your request is denied due to an open ongoing investigation, pursuant to the FOIA Section 15.243, 13(1)(b)(i). A public body may exempt from disclosure as a public record under this act any of the following: Investigating records compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that disclosure as a public record would do any of the following: Interfere with law enforcement proceedings.”

It appears there is an investigation ongoing, but to what extent is unknown as no more information could be gained. NMU’s Chief Marketing Officer Derek Hall could not be reached for a comment.

The North Wind will continue to follow this story, and more information will be forthcoming.