On Tuesday, March 31, Womanist House was broken into. At about 5:15 a.m., Carolyn Sinclair-McCalla ’10, a resident in Womanist House, awoke to the noise of someone opening the door to her room. She looked over to see if her roommate, Zulay Oyarvide ’11, was in her bed. When Sinclair-McCalla realized that her roommate was fast asleep, she raised herself slightly from her bed to see who was entering. 

A man then opened the door and walked into the space between the two beds. Sinclair-McCalla slowly lowered herself back into her bed and waited for the man to exit the room. Once the man had left the room, she woke up her roommate and they listened to the intruder moving around upstairs. The roommates used Oyarvide’s cell phone to call their House Manager, Jay Vega, who was not in the house at the time. 

Oyarvide and Vega three-way called Public Safety, who arrived at the house at about 6:15, entering at about 6:30. Sinclair-McCalla and Oyarvide stayed in their room until Public Safety arrived. When they did, there seemed to be some confusion about who had called and what had actually occurred at the house. Public Safety spent some time figuring out the details of the burglary. Dave Meyer, Director of Public Safety, came in and spoke to the students directly. 

Only Oyarvide’s laptop was stolen from the house. Although the intruder had attempted to enter other rooms in the house, they were all locked. Oyarvide’s and Sinclair-McCalla’s room, which is located on the first floor and is the only double in the house, has two doors, one of which was unable to lock and the other to which Oyarvide and Sinclair-McCalla had never received a key. The man entered through the broken door.

Public Safety told the members of Womanist House that the main suspect is a white male who had just been released from prison and who has a history of similar robberies. They think he entered the house through an unlocked window. The burglary may be linked to a string of robberies that have recently occurred on campus. 

While the members of Womanist House have received no further information about the suspect, Physical Plant has fixed many of the problems in the house, including boarding up the broken door to the double on the first floor and fixing the blinds so that they are able to close completely. 

Public Safety also helped organize a whistle system for the house. Each member has a whistle. If an intruder enters someone’s room, the person is instructed to blow their whistle as soon as the intruder exits. This will alert other housemates to lock their doors and stay in their rooms. 

If you have any information to report in regards this incident, please contact Public Safety at (860) 685-3333.