Current Events > "Fecal Vandal" at University of Nevada-Reno

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A vandal has defecated and urinated in several classrooms in two buildings at the University of Nevada, Reno in recent weeks. Few details have been shared with the campus community. Faculty and instructors were taken by surprise when they were locked out of classrooms previously left open.

UNR spokesperson Scott Walquist confirmed the vandalism Monday, but details were sparse.

There is an active investigation into these acts of vandalism and University police and administration are working together on mitigation efforts, Walquist said. Cost of damages is still being determined.

A source told This Is Reno the vandalism was done to the classroom carts instructors use that combine a microphone, computer ports and other electronics. They estimated the damages at more than $15,000.

They added that multiple departments on campus, including Environmental Health and Safety, Facilities, Janitorial, the Office of Digital Learning, the provosts office and university police, spent several weeksat least since mid-Octoberdiscussing what to do about the vandalism. They hoped it would just stop, however, it didnt, the source said.

The UNR provosts office last week sent an email to college deans and department chairs advising that faculty should lock all centrally scheduled classrooms when not in use.

In the Senior Leadership Team meeting held Monday morning (11/06) deans were asked to instruct their faculty to begin locking the classrooms regularly between uses, a memo to college leadership stated. Please continue this practice until further notice.

The memo noted occurrences of serial vandalism in classrooms across campus but didnt describe the nature of the acts.

Those classrooms have new locks installed in recent months that operate with an active assailant key. Theyre intended to lock the door from the inside or outside to protect occupants during an active shooter situation.

According to the provosts memo, any faculty member, temporary instructor, or [graduate teaching assistant] who teaches in a centrally-scheduled classroom must have a key and carry it with them when teaching on campus.

By this week many faculty still hadnt been notified of the new procedure and werent provided the special keys.

One faculty member who spoke with This Is Reno said they were concerned with the number of such keys in distribution, noting that the security of the classrooms could be compromised should any of the keys go missing.

Few details have been shared with the campus community.