So Called ‘Poop Bandit’ Terrorizes San Francisco Hall

Since the start of September, stained clothes and brown sticky hand prints have terrorized residents of San Francisco Hall — with a supposed “poop bandit,” “nutella bandit” or “poop villain” causing mischief within the dorm.

First-year political science student Abby Margolin said she did her first load of laundry on campus in one of the sixth floor San Francisco washers Sept. 2. The load included a mix of both Margolin and her roommate’s light-colored clothes and blankets. 

When the two went to retrieve their laundry, Margolin said they found brown stains on their items. Unsure of what the stains were, Margolin said she messaged a San Francisco Hall Snapchat group and warned her peers about the machine. 

“We were just flabbergasted,” Margolin said. “We threw everything away because we were absolutely disgusted.”

Margolin said she still isn’t sure where the stains came from. She believed it may have been residual gunk from the machine, but others in San Francisco Hall said they believed it may have been a more alarming stain — human feces. 

“How many more times am I going to get my stuff ruined by just using the university washing machine?” Margolin said. “I shouldn’t have to look in the laundry machine or clean it out beforehand to make sure it’s safe to use.” 

The incident sparked a series of rumors throughout the hall about the culprit of the dirty stain, according to Margolin who said the blame was originally placed on her — a sort of “whoever smelt it dealt it” kind of deal. 

Someone even went as far as to write “poop villain lives here” on the whiteboard hanging outside her door, Margolin said.

Days later the prank was taken a step further when brown handprints and smears of sticky Nutella popped up on the tops of washers, dryers and inside the elevator in the hall.

Residence Life learned of two incidents related to the pranks from Sept. 7 and Sept. 12, Melissa Bagdon, assistant director for assignments, marketing & communication at Residence Life wrote in an email to The Phoenix. Bagdon provided no further details on the incidents. 

“At the time, I was like, ‘You know what? It’s kind of funny,’” Victoria Garcia, a first-year environmental engineering student and San Francisco Hall resident, said.

As time went on and the Nutella kept appearing, Garcia said she and others like first-year biology student Morgan Kelley grew more annoyed by the prank. 

“I just thought it was kind of immature,” Kelley said. “Yes, it can be funny in the moment, but that’s our laundry and stuff.” 

A Sept. 13 email from Hanna Kinney, the Resident Director for San Francisco Hall, asked students to consider the far reaching effects of the prank, which is considered property damage, and to instead work on facilitating a sense of community.

“Respect for one another and the spaces we share is a cornerstone of our community standards here,” Kinney wrote in the email. 

The email also outlined the harm the prank had or potentially could cause, referencing janitors who had to clean up the mess and students with tree nut or chocolate allergies who were put at risk by the Nutella spread throughout the hall. 

Margolin said the stains on her items made an already difficult transition into college life worse. 

“It made me anxious permanently about like ‘Is this gonna happen to me again in the future?’” Margolin said. 

The prank hasn’t continued since the Sept. 13 email was sent out, Margolin, Kelley and Garcia confirmed. 

“They are stupid freshmen who are doing dumb pranks,” Kelley said. “And when they were told to stop by people in charge, they stopped.”

Bagdon didn’t comment on whether Residence Life knew who the “poop bandit” was, or if they were actively searching for who was behind it. While the perpetrator hasn’t been revealed, Kelley said she is just relieved the prank is over. 

“No hard feelings,” Kelley said. “As long as we’re done, we’re done.”