MUNCIE -- A gay Ball State University student said he and his friends were attacked in The Village early Friday morning because of their sexuality.
I consider it a hate crime," said the student, Kyle Flood.
Flood, 21, Indianapolis, suffered a swollen eye, cuts and bruises and a scratched cornea that required treatment at Ball Memorial Hospital.
No arrests had been made as of Monday.
Ball State University Police Chief Gene Burton said attacks on gay students were rare.
"Let me put it this way, I've seen it before," Burton said. "But I could not tell you the last time."
News of the attack had started to spread among students as of Monday, according to Travis Schilla, president of Spectrum, an advocacy group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students.
Students should not panic, Schilla said, but be reminded to be aware of their surroundings and travel to and from bars and social events in groups.
"Ball State is a really a safe campus and the administration has taken this seriously," Schilla said. "Everyone is taking this seriously. It's been really good to see that people care."
Crimes based on sexual orientation represented 15.3 percent of all hate crimes reported in FBI hate crime statistics in 2006, according to Mark Potok, director of The Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project, a hate crime monitoring group.
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