There is moment of panic that occurs when you realize you left your graphing calculator on the desk after a hard calculus exam and sprint back to the classroom, praying it’s still there.
Or that moment when you wake up after a long night of hard studying in a classroom building only to realize you left your iPod plugged into the wall, charging overnight.
As most schools do, Hillsdale College has a lost-and-found system instituted to assist in returning these items back to the proper owners.
“It makes us very happy when we get it back to the students who lost it,” said Pat Loper, faculty assistant in Lane Hall. “It’s mostly clothing – jackets, coats. Lots of water bottles and cups. Umbrellas, calculators, and cell phones. Just about anything.”
The treasure trove of items sits in the corner of Loper’s office with the higher ticket items – graphing calculators, phones, and jewelry – placed in a closet.
Loper, who was previously Hillsdale College President Dr. Larry Arnn’s secretary and has worked in Lane for two years, has separate boxes for clothes, mugs, and umbrellas.
“I kind of have it separated so students don’t have to look through five boxes,” she said.
Marcy Rader, faculty assistant in Kendall Hall, has similar experiences with items as Loper. While it’s mostly ordinary items that come through her office, Rader had a unique memory when asked about the weirdest item she had ever been given.
“A dress.”
She paused, starting to laugh after a moment.
“And somebody claimed it, too. I didn’t ask any questions.”
Most items are given to Loper or Rader by security or students. Loper and Rader do not always know where the items were found; they simply want to get it back into the hands of the students.
Though Rader has been in the classroom buildings longer than Loper, Rader says it makes no difference.
“I really try to help things get back to students,” Rader said, a sentiment echoed by Loper.
“It makes my day when I get something back to somebody,” Loper said.
The women try hard to get students’ items back into the right hands. They search extensively for any form of identification on the item, emailing students if they can find a name.
“We hope and pray that there are names in books,” said Denise Nivison, faculty assistant in Delp Hall.
Nivison said there isn’t much lost in Delp because students don’t spend much time stationary in the building other than in the three conference rooms used for classes and in the lobby areas.
Nivison has, however, found items that have puzzled her: “car keys, eyeglasses, coats in the dead of winter.”
For some items like cell phones, Loper and Rader will resort to looking through contacts.
“I’ve actually called some moms,” Loper said, laughing.
Lost items are posted on the window of Loper’s office in Lane and Rader’s office in Kendall, and the lists are updated regularly as new items are found.
Items are also posted on a bulletin board on the student portal, found by clicking on the “campus” tab, hitting “bulletin boards,” and “lost and found” will come up on the right side of the page. This page is updated regularly with specific items that have been found.
At the end of the year, the clothing items not claimed are donated to the Women’s Commissioners Sale.
“If it’s something like a graphing calculator, we hold it,” said Loper. “If it’s clothing and we’ve kept it for a full year, then we turn it over to the Women’s Commissioners Sale. They sell it because it benefits student scholarships.”
While Loper and Rader’s goal is to return all lost items to students, Lane and Kendall both end up with three or four filled printer boxes worth of items that are donated to the rummage sale each year.
So, Loper has just one question: “Are you missing anything?”
