Two weeks ago, Garfield Hall’s Residence Assistants (RAs) were put on high alert, as a group of students were causing distress for residents in the building.
Reportedly, this group of four or five male students impersonated RAs and paraded around the building, knocking on the doors of, predominantly, female students.
While the RAs could not disclose details about this event per Residence Life privacy policies, nor could they find a definitive answer to the group’s motivation, it is assumed that the group was attempting to steal the belongings of impacted residents.
“They knocked on my door telling me they were RAs,” freshman communications major Maggie Richie said. “And then said they were Grand Junction Police.”
Currently, Richie resides on the second floor of Garfield Hall, which is where most of the reported incidents occurred.
For those who witnessed the incidents, their stories remained consistent. Freshman biology major Gio Negrin was one of these witnesses.
“Our RA called them panty raiders,” Negrin said.
Due to allegations of this group stealing the undergarments of female residents, this nickname was given to the group by students in the building.
All the RAs in the building were required to have a floor meeting to discuss what had transpired.
Since impersonation of law enforcement is considered a serious offense at CMU, as well as a Class 6 felony in the state of Colorado, these allegations were frightening to residents and taken seriously by Residence Life.
“Two guys knocked on my door and said they were cops,” freshman psychology major Makayla Mondragon said.
Alongside Richie and Negrin, Mondragon also lives on the second floor of Garfield.
The Residence Life Community Standards portion of CMU’s Maverick Guide explicitly states that impersonating someone to gain entry into a dorm room is prohibited. Additionally, it states that those in violation of this policy will face disciplinary action.
However, it is unknown if this group of students received any disciplinary consequences for their actions.
Both Residence Life’s professional staff members and the RAs in Garfield Hall could not release any further information about the aftermath of these incidents, as both groups must ensure the safety and privacy of their student residents through complete anonymity.
Due to this, only a few residents outside the second floor had any knowledge that a group of male students were trying to gain access to female dorm rooms through deceptive means.
With no further details being released about this topic by Residence Life, Garfield Hall’s RAs assured all their student residents that this issue has been dealt with for the foreseeable future.
