Brady Vinlove / The Mossy Log
Campus Safety responded to multiple incidents in Howard Residence Hall on the evenings of Saturday, Sept. 5 and Saturday, Sept. 12, after a group of four to five unidentified individuals was reported entering the residence hall and opening residents’ bedroom doors.
According to an email from Director of Campus Living Theresa Brostowitz sent to Platt-Howard residents on the morning of Monday, Sept. 14 by, the individuals are believed to be unaffiliated with Lewis & Clark and may have entered the building after being let in by a Howard resident.
Two Howard residents, Lucy Gulden ’28 and Leila Morehead ’29, spoke with The Mossy Log and described encounters with a group of men on the evening of Sept. 5, a week before the incident described in the email by Campus Living. Both residents said the group attempted to open their bedroom doors.
Morehead said she was in their room alone at approximately 9:40 p.m. on the night of Sept. 5, when the group knocked on her door. After Morehead did not answer, the group repeatedly attempted to open the locked door for roughly one to two minutes without identifying themselves.
Morehead said that someone started trying to get in when she did not respond.
“I was scared because it was, like, no one was saying anything and trying to open the door,” she said. “I just heard the door start, like, jiggling … I know that’s not any of my friends. Because none of my friends would try to just open the door without me responding, right?”
Morehead eventually opened the door after hearing the group begin to leave and saw several men walking toward the stairs. Morehead said she called out a friend’s name, believing the group might have been playing a prank. One of the men responded with an insult before the group ran away, according to Morehead.
Morehead then returned to their room, locked and bolted the door and contacted her roommate.
“I run back inside here and lock the door and bolt it,” Morehead said, “I was just assuming the worst, like trying to rob us. … So I was scared.”
Approximately 10 minutes later, Morehead heard Campus Safety officers walking through the residence hall. Morehead said she did not personally contact Campus Safety, but believed another resident had already reported the incident.
Gulden described a similar separate encounter with a group of four to five men who came to her room on Sept. 5 at approximately 10 p.m. Gulden said the group knocked on her door before opening it without being invited inside.
“They opened my door,” Gulden said. “And I’m like, ‘hello, like, wait, what’s up? Like, who are y’all?’”
Gulden said that at least one member of the group claimed to be an LC student, while the others said they were not students at LC. The individual who claimed to be a student told Gulden that he was studying “sports analytics.”
Gulden also said one member of the group asked to use their LCID to enter another building. Gulden said she questioned why the individual would need their ID if one member of the group was actually a student.
The group eventually left Gulden’s room and began knocking on other residents’ doors, according to Gulden. The group asked residents about parties and proposed throwing a “function” in the residence hall.
“I’m sitting there and I’m realizing there’s like five dudes in my room right now who I don’t know, who are probably not students,” Gulden said. “And I’m like, this could go very badly for me.”
Gulden said someone subsequently contacted Campus Safety, who then came to Howard and spoke with residents.
Gulden said the group returned several days later, on Sept. 12. This time, Gulden refused to let them inside and told them to leave, before contacting Campus Safety.
Gulden said Campus Safety Officers have questioned her repeatedly about the incident.
Quinn Rigdon ’29 also reported being questioned by Campus Safety on Sept. 12. Officers showed Rigdon and her roommate pictures of people she said they suspected to be the alleged intruders. The officers did not get a match for any of the pictures they showed.
Another Howard resident, Payton Kachanon ’29, who arrived at the hall at approximately 10:30 p.m. Sept. 12, said she saw multiple Campus Safety officers enter the building. Kachanon said she overheard them discussing going floor to floor and knocking on residents’ doors.
When Kachanon went to the third floor, a group of residents told her that Campus Safety had been knocking on doors and asking whether residents lived in Howard and whether anyone who did not live there was present. Kachanon said she was also told that Campus Safety was looking for someone who was not supposed to be in the building, and they had instructed residents to lock their doors.
Kachanon described the situation as “worrisome and confusing,” saying the college’s communication did not provide a specific description of the person involved or explain the level of threat.
“I’ve started locking my door, which I didn’t used to do when I lived in Akin,” Kachanon said.
In Monday’s email, Campus Living asked residents not to allow people they do not know into the building and reminded students that visitors should use their LCID to access residence halls.
The team also asked residents to keep their bedroom doors locked, avoid propping exterior doors open and immediately report suspicious people or activity to Campus Safety. Residents were encouraged to take photos or videos of suspicious activity when possible and send them to Campus Safety to assist with identifying those involved.
Campus Safety declined to provide direct comment to The Mossy Log and referred questions to Director Jeremy Ranft. Ranft was unavailable for comment because he was out of the office.
All the Platt-Howard resident assistants contacted by The Mossy Log declined to comment and referred questions to Campus Living. Campus Living did not respond to requests for comment.
The college has not publicly identified the individuals involved, and it remains unclear whether the group described by the two residents on Sept. 5 was the same group referenced in the college’s email from Sept. 14.
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