On Tuesday night, a Loeb Hall resident arrived at their dorm and tried to open the door by inserting their keycard into the reader – only to find that it was jammed. There was a condom, still in its packaging, stuck inside.
The resident told The New School Free Press, “I just kind of threw it on the floor…I was just tired, I had a late night and I just wanted to get back in and sleep.” They were unsure if any other suites were affected on her floor or in the building.
Earlier today, Loeb Hall Residence Director, Ryan Maher, sent a mass email to all residents, implying that several suites were affected by the “inappropriate” use of safe sex supplies. He stated that “external condoms have been found placed on suite door handles and stuck in the card readers of doors throughout the halls,” and in “residential hallways.”
A sophomore at Parsons School of Design and resident at Loeb Hall, Kate Mullaney, heard about the incident through Maher’s email. Mullaney referred to the unknown suspect as the “condom bandit” of Loeb Hall.
Maher called these incidents “inappropriate” and a “wasteful use of supplies [that were gifted to residence halls by Student Health Services] to promote wellness and accessibility to safe sexual practices.” In his email, Maher referred to this form of behavior as “sexual harassment” and said that students found guilty will be “referred to the office of Student Conduct and Community Standards for a conduct hearing.”
“I think it would’ve helped if there was a camera [in the dorm hallways]… it would’ve made it easier to figure out who was doing it,” the first resident said.
There were mixed opinions amongst residents about labeling the incident as “sexual harassment.”
“I don’t know if I would say sexual harassment but definitely inappropriate,” said Elizabeth Clinard, a second-year resident.
Irobun Igiehon, a freshman at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts and a resident of Loeb Hall said “I guess it is kind of a form of sexual harassment, even though it wasn’t specifically targeted at anyone…you did it, so you have to face the consequences of your actions.”
“This is the stupidest prank ever, I hope they recognise that…if people feel uncomfortable then it’s serious but I don’t think anybody had bad intentions,” said Finn McDaniel, a freshman at The New School and a resident of Loeb Hall.
This is a developing story. The Free Press will update this article as we obtain more information.
Additional reporting by Moses Jeanfrancois.
This story was updated on Sep. 14 at 12:20 p.m.