Suspicious window cleaning notices posted in six South Campus apartment-style residences last week, originally thought to be a hoax, were determined to be legitimate, Boston University administrators said.
The Office of Residence Life alerted South Campus resident assistants last Tuesday to an alleged window cleaning hoax after flyers appeared on residence doors notifying students of indoor window cleaning to take place that week, ORL Director David Zamojski said in an email. The notices, which lacked a BU logo and contained typographical errors, requested that students’ either move belongings away from the windowsill or hang a note on their door declining service.
ORL verified the flyers over the weekend with the company contracted to clean windows, Zamojski said. RAs were then notified that the notices were real on Monday.
Window cleaning took place as scheduled last week, Zamojski said.
‘We will work with the contractor to develop an announcement that is more consistent with other messages we send to students about maintenance work,’ Zamojski said.
College of Arts and Sciences senior Hakim Walker, a resident of 38 Buswell St., said he received an email from his RA that advised residents to be cautious because the notices were ‘false.’ Although he was never very concerned about the notices, it was ‘strange’ to hear the notices were not official, Walker said.
‘[Window cleaning] happens every semester, so I just ignored it, but then I got the email and thought, ‘That’s creepy,” Walker said. ‘It shows someone can sneak into our building without permission.’
‘But it’s just miscommunication, then,’ Walker said. ‘Not a big deal. If it is a hoax, the problems are already solved then, because the signs are down. If it isn’t, then window washing will happen. It’s really nothing someone should worry about either way.’
BU acted appropriately in response to the suspicious notices, even if their own miscommunication caused the incident, South Campus Residence Hall Association President Vincent Anthony Squillace said.
‘I think that anytime it seems like someone’s going to enter a residence, it is a serious threat,’ Squillace, a College of Arts and Sciences sophomore, said. ‘South Campus is a different area in that it’s very open and you don’t have to swipe in to get in to your dorm. You really have a lot of responsibility here.’
Administrators might have reconsidered allowing cardless entry in South Campus residences if the flyers had been a student prank, South Campus RHA Secretary Sarah Sholes said. South Campus residences require keys, not Terrier Cards, to enter the buildings.
‘It would be unfortunate to lose not having to swipe in,’ Sholes said.
The flyers probably would have failed to be an effective criminal strategy if the intent behind them had in fact been criminal, Squillace said.
‘I don’t understand the window washing thing,’ Squillace said. ‘If you were going to rob the place, you won’t tell them the day you were going to rob the place, or leave a note saying leave the door unlocked, and you should leave at this time.’
‘But regardless, everything has to be taken serious,’ he said.
