Students have busy school and work schedules, so they can often be very forgetful and not take the extra time to put their items away. Many may wonder how to find their missing items if they happen to lose something. 

There are many unofficial lost and founds on campus, such as at the Mane Dish, the REC and Sims Memorial Library. Students can often just ask the person at the front desk about their missing items, and if they can describe it in good detail, it will be returned to them. 

If one loses an item in a classroom, they should ask their professor about it because sometimes students give items to faculty members in a rush. Different academic buildings around campus may also have unofficial lost and founds in their main desk areas. 

However, after Friday morning of that week, the items will be turned in to the official lost and found at the University Police Department. Items found on the Lion Traxx Shuttle will also be turned in to the University Police. 

Patrick Gipson, University Police’s operations supervisor, talked more about how many items go unclaimed each semester and their future plans to reduce their inventory. 

“We have an entire storage area full of items that haven’t been claimed and keep them there for about three years. Beginning this spring, we will be making regular reports to the Lion’s Roar about what we have in the Lost and Found, and hopefully it will help more students come forward,” he stated. 

The most common items lost, according to Gipson, are keys, IDs and credit cards. However, if you are unable to find these items, you may have to go through other departments on campus. 

For example, if you lose your student ID, you should call Campus Card Operations at 985-549-3990 or immediately go to your GET account to report it as stolen. 

If you are still unable to find it after a while, then you can get a new one for $15. You have to take different steps depending on how you are paying the fee, which can be found on Southeastern’s website. 

If you live in University Housing and lose your room key, you can buy a new one for $50 in Pride Hall. University Housing also highly recommends purchasing rental insurance, as they are not responsible for your property if it gets stolen. 

However, all of these costs can get pretty hefty for replacing items, so students may wonder how they can prevent themselves from losing items in the first place. 

“It is important to practice keeping your items with you at all times, even if you only intend to walk away for a moment. One of the most common crimes on college campuses is theft of unattended items, especially backpacks, purses, laptops, tablets and cell phones. Occasionally, we also receive reports of items stolen when submitted to Lost and Found,” Gipson explained.