A slew of recently reported thefts on campus has led Tufts administrators to step up efforts to educate students about the safety of their personal belongings. This month alone several items have been stolen from Hodgdon , Miller, South and Wren Halls, including a bike, a TV and laptops, according to Carrie Ales, assistant director of communications and judicial affairs at the Office of Residential Life and Learning ResLife.
Items have also been stolen from two Tisch Library lockers in recent weeks, according to Paulette Johnson, a Tisch Library administrator. The latest rise in theft has perplexed university administrators in ResLife , who are unable to understand what forces are behind the recent uptick, Ales said. It's not just laptops but other items In these situations we don't know who is doing it.
No Tufts students have recently been caught stealing items from residence halls or the library, Ales said, adding that the thefts may have been perpetrated by those not part of the Tufts community. We have a very open campus. Ales added that the phenomenon of "piggy backing" — people who enter a residence hall after a student has swiped in — might be to blame in part for the recent increase in theft in residence halls.
She added that the university is working to raise awareness among students of this chronic problem. The stealing of belongings from two lockers inside the library marks the first time that these lockers have been broken into, Johnson said. In one incident, the student failed to lock her locker after depositing her belongings inside, Johnson explained, but in the other incident, the combination on the locker appeared to have been picked.
Library administrators sent an email to all students who have library lockers, reminding them to ensure their lockers are fully secured and not to leave their valuables inside, she said. The reality is that if someone wants to steal from a locker, they are going to do it," Johnson said.
