In particular, students complained that administrative action did not begin until it was clear the assaults were part of a trend.

"In the beginning, [university response] was very poor," Jerome said. "They were treating [the first rape] as an isolated incident and found no reason to alert the community."

UMass spokesperson Barbara A. Pitoniak defended the university's decision to delay any special response until after the second reported rape.

"Public safety did what they normally do," Pitoniak said. "They put out a public safety alert and began their investigation."

Yet Pitoniak also said she found the student-organized rallies valuable. "I think they're effective in the sense that other ideas will probably come out of them," Pitoniak said.

Wallace also supported the university's policies.

"We probably have one of the strongest campus-based rape crisis programs in the country," Wallace said.

In a letter to students and parents, UMass chancellor David K. Scott outlined several actions taken by the administration in response to the "unprecedented" recent assaults.