Intruder Accosts Sleeping Currier House Resident

A female resident of Currier House awakened suddenly at 3 a.m. Monday morning to find an unidentified male lying on top of her.

The report in the police log states the man tried to kiss her before she escaped from him.

She knocked him over the head with a phone, freed herself and fled the room, said Sergeant James McCarthy of the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD).

MacCarthy said he did not think the woman knew her aggressor.

"The door was unlocked," he added. "The person let himself in the room." According to students in the House, the incident took place on the second floor of Daniel's Hall.

McCarthy said the victim described her perpetrator as "a heavy-set, black male of college age or older, with close cropped hair, wearing dark, baggy jeans and a long-sleeve shirt or sweatshirt."

Currier administrators posted a safety advisory in the House which, although it captured the gist of what happened, did not provide students with a full description of the incident.

The first paragraph of the advisory simply stated, "In the early morning hours of Monday, May 18, a Currier student was assaulted in her room by an unknown assailant."

"There's a big difference between that and what happened," said Odette S. Lienau '00. "I'm surprised they didn't say it. It doesn't need to be softened for us."

Many other Currier residents agreed that the House administration failed to adequately inform them about the incident, endangering their own safety.

"They shouldn't try to suppress information," said Sonali Das '00.

Students admit they are generally lax about locking their doors, but said, a warning from the House administration, would change their habits.

"This is definitely alarming for our own safety," Johnisha Matthews '99. "[Since hearing about the incident] I have now been very careful about locking my door. There hasn't been a moment this week when I haven't had my door locked."

Currier resident Cara V. James '98 said the House has experienced several intrusions over the past year. She said she thinks the House masters found a man sitting in the House Living Room in the fall who was connected with the trafficking of drugs.

Some students said Currier falls prey to intruders more often than other houses because the House has only one entrance. Once they pass through this entrance they have full access to the House.

"I think Currier is more vulnerable because everything is centralized, and people feel more comfortable [than theyshould]," Das said. "The set-up makes us feelsafer than we should."

Monday's incident follows a number ofintrusions into dorms and Houses all overHarvard's campus this year.

Students attributed these safety problems tothe facility with which anyone can enter a dorm orHouse. Students rarely ask for the IDs of thosewho follow them into buildings or ask to be letin.

"As a student you want to be trustworthy ofpeople," Matthews said. "You do not stop to askfor their keycard."

Some said universal keycard access could ensurethat anyone without keycard access to a dorm isnot a Harvard student.

"Universal keycard access is a solution," saidOwen G. Fletcher '00. "I don't know who is astudent and who is not, otherwise anyone who lookslike a student you will let in."

HUPD is still searching for the intruder butinsists that the incident is not related to anyprevious robberies or assaults.

The Currier House masters and senior tutor werenot available to comment for this article

Monday's incident follows a number ofintrusions into dorms and Houses all overHarvard's campus this year.

Students attributed these safety problems tothe facility with which anyone can enter a dorm orHouse. Students rarely ask for the IDs of thosewho follow them into buildings or ask to be letin.

"As a student you want to be trustworthy ofpeople," Matthews said. "You do not stop to askfor their keycard."

Some said universal keycard access could ensurethat anyone without keycard access to a dorm isnot a Harvard student.

"Universal keycard access is a solution," saidOwen G. Fletcher '00. "I don't know who is astudent and who is not, otherwise anyone who lookslike a student you will let in."

HUPD is still searching for the intruder butinsists that the incident is not related to anyprevious robberies or assaults.

The Currier House masters and senior tutor werenot available to comment for this article