On Oct.15, the ground floors of Calvert and C.W. Miller Hall were littered with displaced doormats and pumpkin decor. As the resident assistants (RAs) conducted their community rounds, they discovered the aftermath of the ruckus and reported it to the authorities. Residential Life began working with both Student Conduct and Trinity University Police Dept. (TUPD) to look into the situation.

As reported by TUPD, the incident was instigated by unidentified individuals who were visiting the Miller dorms. At approximately 12:30 a.m. they threw door mats and small pumpkin decor from the second floor of Miller.

Bret Biance, director of Residential Life, explained the motions Trinity’s officials would take for the situation. Given the little evidence of the culprits aside from the location, Residential Life conducted an internal collection of details.

“Through information-gathering processes, the RAs were able to identify a potential Trinity student who was hosting two friends from another institution. The Res Life staff submitted their report with all known information and Student Conduct would decide the next steps regarding responsibility,” Biance said.

Alongside Residential Life, TUPD worked to address the situation. Given the abrupt nature of the incident, future steps are not yet concrete. John Rowse, assistant chief of TUPD, explained that no information about the two individuals has been obtained, because, as no theft or significant damage of property was noted, no crime had been reported.

“TUPD was notified by Residential Life that unknown people, dressed in costumes, vandalized some pumpkins in the first-year dorm area again on the weekend of Oct. 22. This was never reported to TUPD by any students. Due to the information given to TUPD by Residential Life, TUPD will have extra patrols throughout the nighttime weekend hours in the first-year area,” Rowse wrote in an email.

Given these recent events, those who are directly impacted are the students themselves. However, this situation, despite being reported to the authorities, has not become a cause of concern, even for those at the residence halls themselves.

Grant Beard, first-year neuroscience and linguistics double major, is a first-floor Miller resident. After the incidents that were reported on the 15th, he dismissed it as someone dropping their own pumpkins and decor on accident from one of the higher floors.

On the whole, he highlighted that he felt quite safe and comfortable whenever he returned to his dorm. In fact, the only issues he mentioned pertained to slight inconveniences regarding their water supply, referring to a short period where Miller residents only had cold water in their showers. Despite that, he thought that instance summarized his living situation.

“It’s fine. It is what it is. Complaining about this kind of goes to show how not bad living in Miller is. I totally forgot about [the water issue] because living in Miller has been really dope. … We have the best dorm, by far. Best hall,” Beard said.

While these occurrences have slightly impacted the residents of Miller, Biance hopes that it doesn’t discourage them from continuing to decorate their community spaces going forward.

“I personally love how our residents have taken time and energy to make the halls their own, whether that be with holiday decorations or a carryover of their room motif. Those little touches help make the spaces more welcoming,” Biance said.