A female student was arrested Jan. 20 by ACU police and charged with assaulting a Residence Life staff member in McDonald Hall.

ACU Police Chief Jimmy Ellison said the staff member was confronting the student about a problem in the hall after 1 a.m., and the student slapped her. Ellison said the staff member reported the assault to be “offensive and provocative.”

No weapons were involved and despite physical contact, neither the student nor the staff member suffered injuries.

The student was charged with Class C misdemeanor assault, a charge which is punishable by a fine of up to $500. Ellison said the student spent the night in Taylor County Jail and bonded out the next morning.

While the name of the suspect is a matter of public record, Ellison has requested the Optimist withhold the identification of the student because the case is still under investigation and may be related to other potential cases.

The student is back on campus and attending classes, Ellison said, and the university is holding off on administrative processes until the police have fully investigated the incident.

Ellison said the assault poses no risks to other students on campus.

“It was very minor in nature,” he said. “Class C is the lowest level of assault charge.”

Curtis Smith, interim director of the Office of Residence Life and Education Housing, said in his four years of working for the university, this is the first student assault on a staff member he’s heard of.

Smith said Residence Life will handle the situation delicately going forward.

“This is a student that was probably in a dark hour in their life,” Smith said. “We want to handle these things appropriately, but in the end we also want redemption and grace coming out of this.”