Unknown college male enters four women’s rooms in Miller Hall

Dana Brumley, Freelance Writer

An unknown college-age male entered at least four dorm rooms occupied by female students in Miller Hall on April 11.

The female residents in the rooms reported waking up to a man either going through their things or watching them sleep.

Tatiana Taylor, a sophomore, said, “I woke up as soon as he opened the door, because our door is super squeaky. And then I popped out of bed and he saw me wake up.”

The man then left.

“ I just thought that someone tried the wrong room,” Taylor added.

Jeff Mackay, associate dean of students and director of Residence Life, said, “The RA reported to an Area Director that a resident on her floor just reported that at 4 a.m. that morning, a college-age male entered her unlocked room, turned the lights on, and began looking through her desk drawers.”

He added, “It was discovered that the male was in a total of four rooms, all of which were unlocked.”

Ron Noble, director of College Public Safety, said, “Some of the residence whose rooms had been entered stated they believed that the person was likely intoxicated.”

He added, “We are confident that this is an isolated incident that poses no ongoing threat to the Linfield community.”

One resident, who asked not to be named, said she awoke to “a man wearing a baseball cap, shorts, and a bluish-gray sweatshirt standing about a foot away from her bed, staring at her.” The resident said she wondered if she was going crazy or dreaming.

“The guy said he was sorry, and slowly walked out of my room, turned off the light, and shut the door,” she added.

The resident knew she wasn’t imagining things the next day when other women in the dorm reported similar experiences.

A third resident, who also asked for anonymity, was not present during the intrusions but experienced how Residence Life and Campus Public Safety handled the event. “Things have been very hushed in Miller because they don’t want to scare other girls.”

“I have felt really unsafe in my hall and it is frustrating to me that it hasn’t been more of a priority to the school to make sure we are feeling safe,” she added.

“They thought panic would spread if we talked about it. We weren’t even supposed to talk about it outside our dorm rooms,” the other anonymous source said.

A meeting was arranged the day after the incident among the affected residents and CPS in order to take a report. Each student was asked if she felt safe in her current housing and were given the option to live elsewhere, but all the girls stayed in their rooms.

According to both unnamed residents, no follow-up has happened between the CPS officers and the Miller residents, and there has been no word on the investigation.