A resident of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority woke up about 4 a.m. Monday to find an intruder inside her third-floor room.
The trespasser said he was looking for his girlfriend and must be in the wrong room and building, according to an e-mail sent to select students Monday afternoon. He then left the building.
“Obviously, (the break-in is) a matter of great concern,” said Alan Cubbage, Northwestern’s vice president of university relations. “Anytime there are strangers in the residences, that’s a cause of concern to us.”
Theta President Katie Jakubowski said she found out about the incident Monday morning, when the victim sent e-mails to her fellow residents before and after she talked to police.
The Weinberg senior said there is some concern at the Theta house.
“Everyone’s, I think, just a little worried,” Jakubowski said. “I wouldn’t say anyone is in panic mode or anything, but it’s just a tense feeling.”
University Police could not be reached Monday evening.
The e-mail sent Monday afternoon said that the victim described the intruder as a black male, heavyset and around 6 feet tall.
This is not the first incident of on-campus trespassing. At least nine intrusions have been reported since October 2005. In one episode at Chapin Hall, the perpetrator gave the same excuse used Monday at Theta, though the descriptions of the suspects differ.
The incident came as the university has been working to institute new security measures for all of its on-campus housing. On Sept. 10, members of fraternities and sororities were notified that all doors in Greek houses would be locked, and that secondary doors would be alarmed in the future. The university started installing 24-hour security cameras in or around Greek houses over the summer, and Cubbage said a camera would be installed at Theta as early as today.
The overhaul in NU’s approach to campus safety started March 27, when all secondary doors in residence halls were alarmed. Beginning this quarter, student monitors in dorm lobbies were replaced by professional security personnel in dorms of more than 150 students. Smaller dorms have no security guards or student monitors. All dorm lobbies are scheduled to receive closed-circuit cameras which will record 24 hours a day, and more police officers were hired to patrol areas around the residence halls beginning this quarter.
Jakubowski said Theta was planning a house-wide fireside on safety for the beginning of the year in order to educate new residents about security.
Instead, the sorority got a crash course in how to handle an emergency, and members are crossing their fingers that the new security measures will work.
“I absolutely hope they’re effective,” Jakubowski said. “More security is always going to be better. Whether it’s going to be perfect, who knows?”
Cubbage said that students can help prevent similar incidents by using common sense, such as locking their doors at night and not letting strangers into their residence halls.
“(Security is) a joint effort,” he said. “Students have to be engaged and involved in it.”
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