A recent spurt of incidents in Topliff and Brown Residence Halls has left the Office of Residential Life and Safety and Security baffled, as they try to identify three possible perpetrators in activities ranging from lewd behavior to leaving admiring notes in another student's room.
Investigator Lauren Cummings of Safety and Security said there were three incidents last week that are currently under investigation, and a BlitzMail message sent to residents of Topliff by Area Director Jeffrey DeWitt also noted "an alarming number of incidents of vandalism and messes for which no one has taken responsibility."
The first of the recent incidents occurred early morning last Monday, when a female first floor Topliff resident returned home to find a "note on her dresser from some sort of secret admirer," Cummings reported.
The second event came Tuesday morning when an unidentified male entered the third floor Topliff room of a female student and climbed into bed with her.
"She had great difficulty waking him up and getting him to leave," Cummings said.
The third incident happened in Brown Hall in the early hours of Thursday morning when an uninvited man entered the room of two female students. According to Cummings, before leaving he "rummaged around the room" and "did a few disgusting things."
However, while Safety and Security has been trying hard to figure out who is responsible for the incidents of the past week, the department is meeting resistance. Cummings said the students whose space has been violated by unwanted visitors have been reluctant to share the clues they have.
"We're caught between a rock and a hard place until they do," Cummings said.
Cummings said at this point the incidents do not seem to be related, since the description of the male students in the second Topliff incident and the Brown incident do not match each other.
Much of the investigations thus far have gone through the ORL staff. Undergraduate advisers have held meetings to address the problem with their residents. DeWitt blitzed the residents of Topliff warning them of the recent problems and urging them to take safety precautions.
He advised students to lock their doors and confront strangers "who don't seem to be visiting someone or who are behaving suspiciously."
He also warned that "incidents of vandalism and safety" often are related to alcohol, and he suggested that students avoid situations that could place them in dangerous binds.
Cummings also recommended that the best way for students to stay safe is for them to keep their doors locked and keep aware of their surroundings.
He said any time someone enters a room without being invited in is a violation of the resident's personal rights and should be reported to his office or the ORL staff.
