Student Robbed at Moravian College

Moravian College issued a campus-wide e-mail earlier this month, informing students of three robberies that took place in two of the freshman dorms, Wilhelm and JoSmith. Much to my surprise, my friend Ben was one of the victims. He was willing to give me an interview on the matter.

Cas: So your dorm room was robbed last week! That’s awful. What happened?

Ben: My bud had just picked up a new game for his Xbox so a couple friends and I all went to one room and played for hours, probably from 5 pm to midnight. I came back up, looked around, and saw that my Xbox 360, Wii, $60 cologne and Macbook pro were all missing.

C: Has Moravian done anything to help you recover these items or reimburse you?

B: There hasn’t been any reimbursement, but my computer and Xbox’s serial numbers are now in every pawn shop and place that sells/buys electronics

C: Well, that’s good! Are you angry?

B: Not at Moravian, but of course I’m angry! I wanted to go break something at first, but I guess you just have to brush something like this off after a while. There’s nothing I can do.

C: Are you taking any new precautions?

B: My door was locked at the time [of the robbery] but now I’m dead bolting the door and got a lock for my new computer.

C: Good idea! What advice do you have for other potential victims?

B: Definitely deadbolt your doors, report any suspicious people round the dorms, and don't leave your room if there are people you don't know in there.

C: As a freshman just starting out at Moravian, does this affect the way you feel about the school?

B: Absolutely. I’m still happy with the education I’m receiving, but the atmosphere feels completely different for me.

C: I’m sorry to hear that! What are your plans at this point?

B: Just deal with it for now, and reach a decision at the end of the year as to whether or not I want to transfer schools.

I was pretty upset after the interview. Ben is a great kid, and his door was locked! Our school is very old (the sixth oldest in the country, actually) so the doors aren’t very strong and can easily be broken in to. I am lucky that my dorm is a little bit newer and it is almost impossible to break into my room from the outside. Still, I wish the school could do something more for Ben!

But there’s a lesson to be learned in all of this. LOCK YOUR DOORS! Deadbolt them, especially if you don’t know/trust everyone on your floor. And don’t tell people you aren’t familiar with about your valuables.

What would you do? Would you transfer schools? Demand reimbursement? What other tips do you have to prevent your room from being broken in to?