Members of Student Senate allege that personal information, including social security numbers and addresses, were stolen from senate offices Wednesday.
A Student Senate member allegedly stole personal information, including social security numbers and home addresses of Ohio University students, from a desk drawer in the Student Government Office on Wednesday.
The stolen information forms belonged to students who are not members of senate, said Vice Commissioner of Governmental Affairs Will Klatt.
Student Senate has not filed a report on the stolen information as of Wednesday night, and will not file a report nor take any further action if the information is returned to the office by Thursday at 5 p.m.
“Because of the seriousness of what was stolen we’re not playing around with this,” Klatt said.
Klatt declined to say who senate thinks stole the papers.
If the information is not returned senate members plan to submit their concerns to the Office of Community Standards and Student Responsibility and “look into all possible university and legal actions,” Klatt said.
“The person who did it, who we at least believe did it, decided that they were too scared to show up tonight,” Klatt said at the meeting. “The person who was alleged to have done this was (also) alleged to have stolen things in the past. It’s a big concern.”
Klatt said they believe they know who the culprit is, since only one individual was supposed to be in the senate office at the time.
“We have an obligation to the student body to protect their info, and theft will not be tolerated,” he said.
Also at Wednesday’s meeting, senate agreed to compensate their Board of Elections, which is responsible for holding debates and ensuring their voting system has been set up, among other things.
Senate proposed providing $500 for the BOE, whose members were not compensated for their work last semester.
The Budget Committee will finalize a plan for BOE funding that will be brought before senate’s general body for future approval.
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