As temperatures plummet, students living on campus have been urged to practice extra vigilance to keep trespassers out in the cold.
Residence coordinators on East and West Campuses have sent e-mails to their residents outlining safety procedures in response to several recent incidents of trespassing in the dormitories.
"With the weather getting colder, it is possible we may experience more people trying to use our residences as a haven," Eddie Hull, dean of residence life and executive director of housing services, wrote in an e-mail to administrators Nov. 10.
Just one day later, a man unaffiliated with the University was arrested for trespassing in Crowell Quadrangle after being incarcerated for sleeping overnight, showering and laundering his socks in Bell Tower Residence Hall three days earlier. In addition, Duke University Police Department suspects that "two suspicious males" who entered Randolph Residence Hall Monday may be responsible for a theft in the dormitory that evening, Residence Coordinator Chris Ellis wrote in an e-mail to residents of Blackwell Residence Hall, Randolph and Bell Tower obtained by The Chronicle.
The suspects, both in their mid-to-late 20s, are described as a thin black male of average height with cornrows and a white male of medium build with very dark hair worn in a crew cut, scruffy facial hair and bloodshot eyes.
Student vigilance may be the key to improving security in the dorms because residents appear to have granted the trespassers access to Bell Tower, Crowell and Randolph, Ellis said. But Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta said the recent trespassing incidents have highlighted the shortcomings of dormitory security.
"[The incidents] are obviously troubling," he said. "They certainly reveal some weaknesses in the entry system that are based on the ability of anybody to tailgate behind. I'm struggling to think of some ways that we can prevent that. I'm hoping that those are isolated incidents-we have not seen a pattern of this behavior."
He noted, however, that the University has periodically seen trespassers over the years, and he does not think this year has been marked by an atypical number of incidents.
Duke may experience slightly more security snafus than its peer institutions due to the relatively open nature of its dormitories, Hull said in an interview with The Chronicle. On most college campuses, dormitories have a front desk and a single point of entry, students have card access to only the building in which they live and guests in the dormitories must be escorted at all times-a model Duke has resisted, Hull noted.
"There's a very strong sense of community among Duke students," he said. "They have said to University administrators that they want to have unfettered access to their friends."
Administrators have contemplated installing surveillance cameras at dormitory entrances to tighten security, but they fear students would be wary of such a measure, Hull said.
"Students' trust level isn't at a point where we've been able to go in that direction," he noted.
Maj. Gloria Graham wrote in an e-mail that DUPD had increased on-campus patrols, but noted that ultimately, residents have a better ability to control the situation by locking their doors and contacting police when they notice suspicious persons.
Moneta also said he does not believe increased on-campus patrolling would eliminate trespassing in the dormitories.
"You can't hire enough police to cover every single spot in the residential system," he said. "I don't think the situation is just about trying to deploy police."
Moneta noted that he has not been approached by more students concerned about security, and a Bell Tower resident who interacted with the trespasser said students have continued to feel safe in Bell Tower since the arrest.
"[The trespasser] was a nice guy, he was very polite," the resident said. "The general consensus is that it's just an unfortunate incident. I think people are paying more attention, but I don't think anyone has expressed any real concern over it."
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