Academy Witnesses New Trespassing Cases in Campus Buildings

By ANGELA HE, JINMIN LEE, JANIBEK SUBKHANBERDIN, and ANDREW YANG

    On Oct. 11, three non-PEA teens entered the library without permission. Two lowers, Adelle Pitts and Victor Angeline, recognized the teens as non-PEA students and reported the situation to campus safety. Pitts described, “I was doing my physics on the fourth floor of the library when three strangers. went behind the bookshelves and started whispering. I was like, ‘What are they doing?’ Afterward, they quietly walked past me and went to this other room. Then Victor called me and I was scared, so we went down to the ground floor and called Campus Safety.”

    Campus Safety was able to swiftly intervene in the situation. “They got people to guard the entrances and exits of the library and they swept the entire place,” recounted Angeline.

    Over the past month, the Academy has seen unauthorized people on campus grounds who entered several buildings and raised concerns regarding student safety. Exonians have taken pictures and reported such instances to Campus Safety staff, who are working closely with the Exeter Police Department and dorm faculty to keep the academy safe.

    Historically, the Academy has witnessed unaffiliated students come on campus, but the past few weeks witnessed a spike in activity.These recent instances have been the first time non-academy individuals have actively entered into students’ dorms and academy buildings. Campus Safety, alongside the Exeter Police Department, has increased patrolling at night and has met with dorm heads to discuss steps to prevent any student harm. During proctor meetings, some dorms have encouraged proctors to take precautions.

    “There have always been kids from the town on campus, but, until recently, the atmosphere was kept mostly friendly, from my personal experience. There were the occasional loud noises late at night with kids outside of the academy wandering around the campus,” said Peabody Hall proctor Dhruv Reddy.

    However, the presence of non-Exeter teenagers has increased recently. “We have had an influx of juveniles who do not attend school here coming on campus either late at night or early in the morning,” Paul Gravel, Director of Campus Safety and Risk Management said. “They have been banging on doors, yelling, and causing havoc. Some of them have gotten into a couple of dorms; unfortunately, some of our students swiped and then let them in, not knowing who they were. In addition, I just came from the library where a student called in three non-PEA kids that were in the library.”

    Campus Safety has been closely working with the Exeter Police Department to mitigate any potential risks. “I’ve since met with the Exeter Police Chief, Stephan Poulin,” continued Gravel. “This has been going on for about a month or so. I really get concerned when they’re getting inside the buildings. The unauthorized people weren’t doing that before, so that’s why the police are doing extra patrols. They’re trying to identify as many Exeter kids that are on our campus that don’t belong here. We’re working closely with them.”

    Gravel emphasized the importance of quickly reporting any suspicious incidents to dorm faculty or Campus Safety: “I’m asking the students to be much more cautious. When an unknown person attempted to enter a dorm, an Exonian reported the incident to the dorm head, who got us the information. That’s exactly what should happen because that’s how we protect ourselves. For the Exonian who sent us the information from the library, I’m gonna be sending that student an email and thanking them.”

    Gravel met with dorm heads to discuss how to keep students safe. “We had a really good meeting. I was invited to the dorm heads’ meeting by the new Dean of students. We had a great conversation, so they’re aware now. I asked them to talk to the students about not just letting somebody slide into a door, especially the dorms.”

    Reddy echoed that point of communicating with students, emphasizing awareness in the dorm as key to maintaining a safe environment.  “I believe it is first most important to let new students know of the situation. Many are not familiar with the fact that the academy hosts an open campus and what to do when interacting with people who don’t attend the academy.” Reddy continued, “As a proctor, I will do my best to introduce the situation to new students so in case of escalations, they know to contact campus safety or trusted adults.”

    Peabody Hall proctor Bryan Chen also emphasized the feelings of new Exonians in this situation, remarking, “I’m also thinking about all the new students that just came, and what their impressions will be, especially as family weekend gets closer.”

    Dunbar Hall proctor Sophia Jia remarked on how the faculty has met with dorm proctors and discussed important safety measures to take in events like these. “It’s about being cautious when seeing unfamiliar people in the dorms. The faculty advised us to close the door immediately if someone we don’t recognize follows us.”

    “During Faculty Meeting, our dorm head, Ms. Glassner, told us that there have been strangers on campus making rude remarks,” said Cilley Hall proctor Jaylen Bennett. “We should be cognizant of strangers around the dorms.”

    Cilley Hall proctor Leo Mizuno added, “She reminded us to try to take a picture of the license plate if the people are in a car and make sure nobody follows us into the dorms.”

    “I heard what helped in another dorm was reminding the strangers that they would be reported to the faculty. I think if we are all aware and politely confront any strange behavior, we could help avoid many problems,” said Wentworth Hall proctor King-Diorr Willsun.

    “We were told to always ask unfamiliar people ‘who are you here to see?’ if they ever trail behind and try to get in. If you feel any suspicious activity, call campus safety,” Jia explained.

    “A dorm is known to be a safe place for students,” shared McConnell Hall proctor Miyu Nakamura. “It’s where students feel comfortable and supported; It’s our own little community within our big Exeter community. When townspeople come into dorms, it disrupts the sense of safety. I hope that we can strengthen our regulation because having strangers enter seems really dangerous.”

    Gravel offered final words of advice for students. “Be aware of your surroundings, and don’t hesitate to call us. We operate twenty-four-seven, and we’ll check on everybody. And even if it ends up being somebody who is authorized to be on campus we always want to take extra precautions. We can’t be everywhere, so we really rely on students reporting; I’m very thankful to the students that called in information to us. That really helps us keep the campus safe.”

    ​​It’s clear that the recent incidents of strangers sneaking onto campus at the academy have got everyone on edge about our safety. But the good news is that Campus Safety, the Exeter Police, dorm faculty, proctors, and students are all working together to tackle this issue and keep us all safe. We all play an important role in upholding the safety standards, it’s about looking out for each other and taking quick action if something seems off.