Residential Services has increased security staff and added additional security desk hours to residential buildings following the intruder incident at Allison Hall last Thursday.

Additional officers will patrol the perimeter of residential buildings and security personnel will staff residential facility front desks two hours earlier for the duration of Spring Quarter. The enhanced security follows an incident last week in which a student was verbally threatened and physically battered by an unknown male who gained entrance to Allison, Assistant Vice President of Residential and Dining Services Paul Riel said in an email to students who live on campus.

University spokesman Bob Rowley said University Police are investigating the incident with assistance from the Evanston Police Department. He said UP is following a number of leads but has not yet found the suspect.

“Various departments, including University Police, are working really had to figure out what happened in this incident,” Rowley said. “We work really hard to make sure that we do everything we can to make sure students are safe. … The University is doing everything it can do to make sure that we guard against these kinds of incidents.”

Riel could not be reach for comment Tuesday.

Medill freshman Priyanka Godbole lives on the second floor of Allison, where the altercations began. She said she was in the building when the incident occurred. She said she didn’t immediately realize the severity of the situation.

“It’s unnerving because you think you’d be safe in a dorm when you have key cards you have to swipe to get in,” Godbole said.

She and other Allison residents said they noticed increased security later that day following the event.

Despite the intruder, residents agreed they still feel safe in Allison.

“It seems to me that it was an isolated incident,” said Weinberg sophomore Troy Xu, who lives in Allison and serves on its programming board. “A lot of people will just hold the door for the next person, and you never know if they actually live there or not. Other than that, I don’t feel unsafe or anything. I think it’s still a safe environment.”

Weinberg freshman Megan Culligan said that since Thursday’s events, things have returned to normal, just with more security.

“It happened, but I feel safer that there’s more security,” Culligan said. “If I lived off campus, I wouldn’t have a security guard necessarily at the door.”

This article was updated to reflect Paul Riel’s new title.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @kellipnguyen