Olin Quad played host to various Homecoming activities last week, not all of which were planned.
According to Assistant Director of Student Activities Lauren Smetana, 16 wooden Lydia cutouts were stolen from the quad sometime during the late evening Oct. 16 or early morning Oct. 17.
“It just doesn’t make sense,” Smetana said. “Why would anyone want to take the Lydias other than the fact they can brag about stealing them?”
As part of the annual Homecoming Week festivities, student organizations decorate wooden cutouts of Lydia Moss Bradley to promote their organizations. The cutouts are displayed on Olin Quad throughout Homecoming Week.
Smetana said the theft was upsetting for all parties involved, including the Student Activities Office (SAO), Activities Council of Bradley University and those that decorated the Lydias.
“People spent three-plus hours creating those, and it’s frustrating to have something taken from you,” she said.
Currently, U-Spirit coordinators are investigating the theft by talking with suspected parties to determine what happened with the cutouts. No police reports have been filed, but Smetana said coordinators will take action if necessary.
This was not the first time Bradley has seen this kind of theft.
“It seems like it’s a common pattern for things to get stolen on campus, which is unfortunate because it makes it difficult to come up with creative marketing or really cool outside-of-the box events to do,” Smetana said. “You’re always implementing them with the fear that things will get stolen.”
Senior graphic design major Kara Hoganson decorated Lydia cutouts for Serve BU, Epsilon Sigma Alpha and Up ‘Til Dawn.
“I was highly disappointed because I put a lot of work into painting them,” Hoganson said. “Please give them back. I think it’s really disrespectful and immature. I don’t get who you were attacking, but I feel like it was against me, even if it was a dig against the university.”
Anyone with information regarding the stolen cutouts should contact SAO, located in Sisson 141.
For those who stole the cutouts, Smetana encouraged them to consider the effects of their thievery.
“Think about how your actions impact other people,” Smetana said. “Although it may seem funny to you, there are people who invested a significant amount of time creating those Lydias, and they really wanted to keep those as keepsakes to remember Homecoming and to boost the spirit and presence of their organizations.”
