College and Hanover authorities are once again investigating after an unidentified male was reported in a women's bathroom while a female student was showering.
The incident took place shortly after 8 p.m. last night on the second floor of Topliff Hall and was quickly reported to Safety and Security, who confirmed that they were looking into the incident.
In mid-January, Safety and Security as well as Hanover Police investigated a report that a middle-aged man opened the shower curtain and looked into an occupied women's shower in Smith Hall.
Last night's incident happened very quickly, the female student who was showering at the time told The Dartmouth. She said that she had been in the shower for about five minutes when she heard the shower curtain rustling and saw it move out of the corner of her eye.
When the female student, who wished to remain anonymous, looked out, she saw the male standing there, who she described as 20- to 25-years old, white, 5' 6" inches tall, weighing about 160 pounds and unshaven, with curly blond hair and blue eyes. She said he appeared to be older than most College students.
She said the intruder seemed "very casual" and not embarrassed. The male said, "Hey," before he left, which the female said he did very quickly.
The student was not touched by the intruder. After he left, the student immediately went back to her room to call Safety and Security, where the call was recorded at 8:17 p.m.
"It happened very, very quickly," the female student said. "I was just so shocked ... I don't think it's really sunk in."
The female said the male was wearing a green sweater and a green woolen ski cap. She also said she noticed him entering the building a short time earlier, but added that she does not think he is a student.
Other students who believe they saw the male in the dorm about 8 p.m. offered very similar descriptions of his dress and appearance, and also said they got the impression that he was not a College student.
Several, in fact, said they noticed him specifically because he looked out of place and to be "lurking" around the dorm. Two indicated they thought he might be delivering food, but then noted that he was not carrying anything.
One remembered seeing him first on the Topliff third floor and then in the men's bathroom on the second floor a short time later.
Ironically, the student who was showering last night and other residents of her hall have been in previous contact with College administrators -- including members of the Board of Trustees and President James Wright -- about locking residence hall doors and installing locks on bathroom doors across campus.
The female student said administrators had not been very responsive.
"I'm a little angry. I feel it's the College's responsibility to provide security for it's students," she said. "We take as many precautions as we can, [but] there's really no way we can protect ourselves."
Last month's shower walk-in prompted a group of students, led by Amanda Molk '01, to petition the College for increased safety measures in the dorms.
In fact, the female student said she looked out of her shower when she heard the curtain move because she has gotten in the habit of doing so since the incident in Smith.
Safety and Security is conducting frequent patrols of the building and will continue to do so, according to Safety and Security Dispatch Coordinator and Special Officer Traci Thibodeau.
Thibodeau said that College Proctor Bob McEwen and Topliff Undergraduate Advisors had been informed of the incident and that Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman was also going to be notified.
