Recently this month, a theft occurred in one of the classrooms of Morehead Hall, where equipment such as laptops were stolen from the area.
Some students on campus say that they were surprised and shocked to hear that a theft occurred in a building like Morehead Hall.
Junior communication and media arts major Alexia Darby was not aware of the incident, and is confused as to why people were not cautious with this type of equipment.
Junior communication and media arts majors Alexia Darby (left) and Katrina Davis (right) talking about the theft incident with each other.
Emely Alba | The Montclarion
“It’s kind of shocking,” Darby said. “People should be more on top of who’s in charge of the equipment because it’s pretty expensive and I feel like they need to be more responsible with things like that.”
Darby is also concerned for her belongings and where she can leave them.
“I’m a little worried because they can easily steal something again if people don’t know who they are,” Darby said. “Usually sometimes I leave my laptop if I have to run to the bathroom but now, I’m going to be more smart because if I’m not, then I’ll just be more paranoid.”
Another student who was surprised to hear about the theft was junior Communication and Media Arts major Katrina Davis.
“I’m surprised because even though you can’t trust people, you would think that [because of] the nature and the environment of the school you wouldn’t think somebody would do that here on this campus,” said Davis. “I’m always cautious with my things, I don’t leave my stuff anywhere. It doesn’t change how I behave with my personal items.”
Director of School of Communication and Media, Dr. Keith Strudler, says the theft could have been done by anyone because there are no cameras in the area where it occurred.
“It’s very unfortunate,” Strudler said. “Obviously there are two sides. One, it’s going to make us more vigilant, and on the other hand, it’s kind of sad you like to think it’s like a Campus Community. When things get stolen from the school it hurts all of us it and hurts the school.”
As a result of this incident, Strudler says that faculty have already been informed to take precautions in making sure that rooms are locked when they are not holding lectures in them.
For sophomore psychology major John Cobo, he says he’s not worried, and overall, if students just keep their belongings near them, they should be okay. Cobo says he does not understand why such theft would occur on campus.
“Whoever did it, I don’t know why they would do it. There are so many resources here I don’t know why you would just go and grab laptops, maybe just to sell them,” Cobo said. “But you always get caught no matter what so if [they’re] going to get caught there are so many consequences that the person can get.”
Capt. Kieran Barrett of the University Police Department (UPD) said there may be progress in this case since it involved technology.
“With any burglary/theft, the Police Department relies on modern technology and crime scene techniques to develop a case to the furthest point possible,” Barrett said. “It is our hope that these actions will successfully find the responsible person(s) and return the property or value through the criminal justice system.”
