Mystery caller threatens students

Author: Cloe Shasha

The Department of Public Safety notified the College community about harassing phone calls to students on campus on Jan. 19, in an e-mail was sent out asking for victims to report detailed information about the received calls. The caller's voice was identified as male.

Since Jan. 19, Public Safety has not publicly reported any information about the caller.

"The investigation is still open and we will look into any new information that comes in," wrote Telecommunications Manager and Technical Support Specialist Keith Bishop in an e-mail. "We would like to encourage the student body that in the event of a similar phone call, to hang up and report the call immediately to the Department of Public Safety."

The unidentified person primarily called females' dormitory telephones and said aggressive and inappropriate sexual statements. He often spoke in a British accent.

Some reports indicate that the caller may know the people he has harassed. Sarah Elkhayat '09 received four phone calls between 10:20 and 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 19. During the first call, he asked if he was speaking to Sarah, and after she confirmed her identity, he began to verbally harass her.

"I am a First-Year Counselor, so I have two phone jacks in my room," said Elkhayat in an e-mail. "I unknowingly had my phone plugged into the incorrect jack, meaning that the phone he called me on was different from the number listed in the directory under my name. I have no idea where he got this number. I was really freaked out because he knew my name."

Other calls, however, make it seem as though the caller did not know the victims personally. The caller contacted Ariel Ritchin '11 - a male student - assuming Ritchin was female. After Ritchin received a call on Jan. 19, he notified Public Safety.

"I'm a guy but my name may sound like a girl's: Ariel," wrote Ritchin in an e-mail. "I got a call at around nine this morning and hung up right away."

Also on Jan. 19, roommates Nora Hirozawa '11 and Abby Leathe '11 received inappropriate phone calls on both of their telephone lines.

"My phone rang very late last night/early this morning, so we didn't answer," wrote Hirozawa in an e-mail to Associate Dean of the College and Director of Public Safety Lisa Boudah. "This timing would make sense if he were calling alphabetically. My roommate's phone rang at 11:40 a.m. this morning and the caller said [inappropriate language]. There was no background noise that we could distinguish."