The Mississippi State University Police Department is investigating a voyeurism incident that occurred in the women’s restroom in Davis Wade Stadium during the MSU vs. Tennessee game on Oct. 13.
A sophomore MSU student reported a person in masculine work boots attempted to take a photo of her in a stall in the women’s restroom near the student section.
The Reflector does not identify victims of sexual crimes.
“My friend and I left the end zone (student section) and went to the restroom near there, and I noticed the person in the stall next to me had work boots on, which I thought was strange,” she said. “When I stood up, I noticed the camera barely visible under the stall, and then he shot out of the stall too quickly for me to be certain what he looked liked.”
Sid Salter, director of University Relations, said this is the first time an incident like this has been reported at MSU.
The MSU Gameday Committee has met to review existing gameday security policies and discuss possible measures to prevent similar incidents in the future, Salter said.
Currently, MSU employs over 200 people in the security business on gamedays, he said.
In addition to security personnel, Salter said custodial staff often checks the restrooms while restocking items.
Salter said all restrooms in the stadium are locked prior to the start of the game to prevent people from hiding inside.
“This is a bizarre incident because the (victim) said this incident occurred when the bathroom was full of other people,” he said. “Our security efforts are comparable, if not surpassing, other institutions.”
Salter said the university is actively working on the case, although it currently does not have useful information about the perpetrator.
“The determination so far is there’s not a lot more the university can do to stop something like this from happening, although we are certainly open to change if we can continue the conversation to learn any additional concrete steps we can take to prevent this,” he said.
Georgia Lindley, chief of MSU Police Department, said if anyone has any information regarding the incident, contact the MSU Police Department at 325-2121.