By Robert Rossi, Assoc. Culture Editor -

Since the start of spring semester, the CLXF (Claver-Loyola- Xavier-Fenwick) dorm on Upper Campus has been victimized by a series of break-ins and robberies. At least five separate rooms have been broken into and thousands of dollars worth of electronics have been stolen.

The break-ins began before most students returned from winter break. The dorms were re-opened to the majority of the student body on Saturday, Jan. 16. Athletes and participants in cer¬tain school-sponsored programs were allowed to return earlier, however, meaning that the dorms were accessible with an EagleOne card before Jan. 16.

Tom Swiderski, A&S ’13, returned to his dorm room on the second floor of Claver during the early afternoon of Jan. 16, making him one of the first arrivals in the CLXF building. Upon entering his room, he noticed a sizable gap atop the dresser where his televi¬sion once sat.

“I thought that maybe my roommate Kishan, who owned the TV, had taken it with him over break, but when I called him he said, ‘Of course I didn’t,’” Swiderski said. “Earlier, someone had told me that his TV had been stolen over break, and so I feared ours had been stolen too.”

That someone was also a resi¬dent of the second floor of Claver, who left his television in his room over the break. Based on the dates that the last residents in both rooms left for break, it became apparent that the robberies had not occurred before the dorms were closed in December. And because many students besides the three residents of each room knew the room access codes, many on the floor came to the conclusion that the robberies were carried out by one or more residents of the CLXF building.

BCPD was contacted as soon as the owners of the televisions arrived back on campus and con¬firmed that they had left the TVs in their rooms. The resident assis¬tant of the second floor of Claver compiled a list of people known to have access to both rooms, but no suspects appeared on both lists.

“I know a lot of crazy people around here who just barge into other people’s rooms and steal food. Don’t share room codes. I learned the hard way. Make friends with people you can trust,” said Kishan Bhakta, CSON ’13.

On Wednesday, Feb. 3, another robbery occurred on the floor. A CLXF resident, who requested to remain anonymous, told The Gavel that he received a text message from his roommate inquiring about the location of his Xbox 360. He had returned to their room to find it missing. The orange Ethernet cable that had been attached was still lying on the floor.

“I have my suspicions as to who it is, but I’m not going to name names. Obviously it was someone who knew my code because nobody was in my room, nor was the door open,” the resident said.