Stanford University is reviewing its safety procedures after a man was caught living illegally in dorms, school says

By Taylor Romine, CNN

Stanford University is reviewing its safety procedures after a man was reportedly found illegally living on campus, the university said in a statement Tuesday.

The man was “reported to be on campus several times since December of last year” but was most recently caught on October 27, according to Dee Mostofi, the external communications assistant vice president for the Northern California university.

The Stanford Daily, the university newspaper, identified the man as William Curry and he was named by the university as Mr. Curry.

Curry reportedly “socialized with the other residents” and was regularly let into dorms by some resident assistants, according to the Stanford Daily. The paper obtained messages that show resident assistants trying to verify who was authorized to live in the dorm through rosters.

While some discussions were had with some residence staff regarding Curry’s intrusions, “there were no broad communications about him to all Stanford residences,” Mostofi said.

Circumstances of the case, including Curry’s “persistence and ability to ingratiate himself with our student community,” show gaps exist in protocols to prevent such incidents from happening, Mostofi said.

“We will immediately undertake a review to ensure our procedures do not allow for this type of incident to happen again,” she said.

CNN was unable to reach Curry for comment. He also declined the Stanford Daily’s request for a telephone interview, telling the paper “he did not directly contest most of the facts of the investigation.”

According to Mostofi, the university’s public safety department obtained multiple stay-away letters, a prerequisite to citing someone for trespass on campus. But school officials were unable to locate Curry until the most recent incident, and they served him the letter at that time.

It’s unclear when the first incident occurred. CNN has reached out to Stanford for clarification. CNN has also reached out to student groups on campus.

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