Theater Directing II students were in shock when they came back to their Blank Performing Arts Center classroom to see their bags had been gone through on Sept. 9. 

Morgan King, a senior and theater major, was one of the students who had money stolen from her backpack. There was $200 dollars taken from her wallet, which she had just received and needed to pay her bills.

Another student had $25 dollars stolen and later had charges on her credit card for $3,000 according to King.

King was upset that this had happened to her but does not blame Simpson in any way. 

“I feel like my safety is violated, it was our class period, in a building where I felt safe in,” King said

Once students returned to the room to find their things gone through, professor Jennifer Nostrala remembered seeing someone leaving the building. She ran after them and was able to get a description and a partial license plate. Nostrala returned to the classroom and said they needed to contact the police and security. 

The students gave their statements to the police and security. According to King, the Indianola Police Department was disappointed there were not any cameras outside or inside the building. This makes identifying the thief harder. 

“SGA, and I (Simpson Security) have worked out a plan for new camera’s every year,” director of security Chris Frerichs said. 

King says that she has yet to hear anything back from the police about her case. It is a general agreement among Simpson security and the Indianola Police Department that the thief was not a member of the Simpson Campus. 

Knowing that it was not a member of the community makes King’s fear of her safety higher than before this event. 

“It has escalated my fear. What worries me the most is that the community isn’t safe rather than the campus,” King said.

King hopes that students learn from this, watch their own things better in the future. 

The theft is still an ongoing investigation with the Indianola Police Department. Simpson security would like students to know that there is no evidence linking this theft to the other theft that have happen on campus.