The male unaffiliated with the University who allegedly entered a female student's room in Harrison College House earlier this month gained entry to the building when a friend, a resident, signed him in at the front desk, according to University Police.
Detective Supervisor Frank DeMeo said that 19-year-old Robert Adger was "a friend of one of the students" in Harrison and "wasn't a first-time visitor [to the residence hall]. He has a relationship going with one of the students." He would not release the name of the resident.
DeMeo speculated that Adger entered the building on March 4 with his friend, then left and went into another student's room by himself.
He was found when that student came home, and he was arrested for burglary and "related charges" in the lobby of the building between 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., according to DeMeo.
While some students were concerned when they learned about the alleged incident, because of its nature, it is not likely to cause shifts in the University's security policy.
Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said that she does not "believe that one incident would change any of the already excellent protocols in place" in the college houses.
However, she did note that "security systems... and security protocols are only as good as the users make them."
Harrison College House Dean Frank Pellicone agreed and said Monday that "we've always had a problem where students don't lock their doors."
Penn policy states that students are responsible for the actions taken by any guest that they sign into a building.
Rush said that while the situation is still being examined and she does not know what the results will be, she hasn't "seen anything where a person was removed from housing" due to this type of incident.
Because this is an ongoing situation, Faculty Director of College Houses and Academic Services Phil Nichols was unable to comment regarding the identity of or possible punishments for the student who signed Adger in. However, he said that "if someone's guest does something that causes harm to other people, the rule states that you're responsible for the conduct of your guest. That's it."
Rush concurred, stressing that "the important thing is that when people sign someone in, they are responsible for that individual."
However, some students have spotted other holes in the system.
Harrison College House resident Gena Seroogy said that security in the lobby of the building can be lax, and she has occasionally entered the building without her PennCard "when there is a big crowd."
Seroogy added that before this incident was reported, she "used to feel pretty safe [and] didn't really think about it." The College sophomore would leave her door unlocked, but says she will now be locking her door all the time.
However, College senior and Harrison College House resident Natan Elman said he has "always felt pretty safe."
"I never saw any glitches in the system," he said. "I was always asked to show an ID when I was signing someone in.
"But my experience was always with pretty responsible people," he added.
