By Brooklyn Dance
When the chapel band on Feb. 7 showed up to Boone Convocation Center to warm up, they realized their keyboard was gone.
For the second time this year, a keyboard that belongs to the university and is used for chapel has been stolen. A set of drums owned by a student member of the band was also recently stolen. The two keyboards are valued at $3,000.
Trevecca security officials are investigating the incident.
“There hasn’t been any forced entry, no broken windows or kicked doors,” said Greg Dawson, director of security. “We are waiting to review video so we can determine how they gained access.”
The building was locked when the theft happened and Dawson said the keyboard was stolen within an eight-hour window between security locking up the building on the previous Monday night and chapel band arriving the following morning to set up.
The last week of Christmas break another keyboard was stolen, as well as a set of drums owned by Michael Shelton, junior and drummer in the chapel band.
Security officers are patrolling the area around Boone more frequently and keeping the doors locked when the building is not in use. Some of the locks have been changed to operate in a more secure manner, said Dawson.
They also plan to add more security cameras inside the convocation area, Dawson said.
Installing more cameras is part of a larger university-wide initiative to make the campus more safe, he said.
“It’s not cheap, we have to do a little at a time,” Dawson said. “A lot of time that priority is based on when an incident occurs- this [incident] has bumped the rest of the Boone Building up on the priority.”
Theft is the number one incident on campus, and it usually is on any college campus, Dawson said.
“Make sure you’re securing things in a space,” Dawson said. “Don’t leave valuables in plain sight, take away the temptation to want to take it.”
