Everyone forgets things now and again. Especially students who have a lot on their minds. . Some instructors may save your belongings if they noticed you’ve left it behind, or it might remain in a classroom until the next time you are able to go there.
However, when you lose something randomly in public, it is not as simple as looking where you left it. There are chances that some individual took it home or was nice enough to leave it with someone nearby.
The Shepherd University campus has two designated places where lost items are brought — though this is not common knowledge to the students.
The main location is found on the first floor of the Student Center at 210 N King St. If a student or visitor has lost something, a gracious person might have taken it there. To retrieve your item, just talk to the attending desk assistant at the Information Center in Ram’s Den. They will help you locate the item if it is in their inventory.
Across from the Student Center, the Scarborough Library houses the other Lost and Found area behind the front desk when you walk in. According to the library assistant who manages the system, the lost items are collected from the various areas of the building: reading corners, computer area, bathrooms, etc. and recorded in detail within a logbook situated with the missing items. More valuable items like wallets and Ramblr cards are also secured there.
She stated, “When someone comes in, they have them describe the item in detail.” The logbook helps them know if the item is there or not especially if the description of the item is heavily detailed. After some time, the items are brought over to the Information Center with their records and can be recovered there from then on.
Until I started looking around, I didn’t even know that there was a Lost and Found on Campus — let alone two! I’m not alone in this either. Lee DiFante, a senior English student, said “I’d never heard of either location. Every item I’ve ever lost had just sort of been held onto by the teachers that taught in that classroom or placed in a somewhat hidden place within the classroom it was taught. I’m not even sure the teachers know there’s a lost and found, so I feel like informing people is the first step.”
Another senior, Natasha Carpenter said, “I once lost my phone for 3 hours and it was on someone’s desk in an office in Knutti. Everyone needs to know more about lost and found on campus anyways. A lot of people don’t know it exists.” If seniors are not aware of the university lost and found, others are even less likely to know.
Overall, knowing where the locations are would benefit a student finding their item, and for others to leave discovered items for their owners to recover. This information could be spread by flyers, websites, or through a platform. Abigail McClung, Sans Merci Prose Editor, suggested “A lost and found section could be featured in Student Affairs emails.”
Currently, those moderating their location’s lost and found are quite busy with other duties that are of higher importance. There is also the fact that people who lost an item, probably think it is gone forever even if someone turned it in. The University’s website only has a few mentions of the Lost and Found location after all, and the library is not mentioned at all.
Sarah Seibert, a senior, said that flyers informing others of the location of the Lost and Found around the academic building would be helpful. At least, incorporating a better awareness for the lost and found locations would be beneficial.
Implementing a system of digital registry for the lost items could also aide in finding them. Especially if the item was being kept somewhere else rather than the Information Center or the Library. Along with this, a Lost and Found page on the university website along with locations and information. However, details of the items should not be added to the site. Rather, students could have access to a form that could be submitted and cross checked with the system to see if the item is there or not. Beneficial for students who commute to campus or even just to aide in expediting the process.