Fake Stanford student squatted in dorms for a year, posed as athlete, created Tinder profile saying he was pre-med: Report

An Alabama man managed to pose as a Stanford University student for an entire year, living in various dorms across campus until an alleged incident of theft prompted officials to track him down once and for all.

From fall 2021 until just last week, William Curry — who graduated high school in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2021 — squatted in various dorm rooms in at least five different residence halls throughout campus, befriending local students, and avoiding tough questions about his background or his purpose in California.

"It seemed that he was a friend of the football players. So, anytime we saw him we let him in because it was like he knew people," said Stanford student Kacey Logan.

Officials believe Curry used his gregarious personality to put others at ease and lessen the chances that they would suspect him of anything untoward.

"While Stanford University has protocols and policies in place to prevent non-students from entering and living in our residences, the unique aspects of Mr. Curry’s persistence and ability to integrate himself with our student community has made it clear that gaps exist in those protocols," said university spokesperson Dee Mostofi. "We will immediately undertake a review to ensure our procedures do not allow for this type of incident to happen again."

And indeed, residents from different dorms indicated that Curry would often shrug off personal questions with "a joke." He also had a handful of pre-determined cover stories to satisfy others' curiosities. At different times, he claimed to be a Duke University transfer student or a track and field athlete. He even created a Tinder profile which listed him as a sophomore studying pre-med.

In January 2021, Curry began dating a female student, who claimed he told her he was on a Coca-Cola scholarship. She also said that he drank and gambled frequently and that he ingratiated himself with other students by purchasing alcohol for them.

After the two broke up about six months later, she claimed that Curry harassed her and logged into her iMessage account. He also allegedly began sending threatening messages to her and to her roommates using different phone numbers. One such message sent to his ex-girlfriend supposedly read: "F***ing me raw then sucking n****s…dirty b****."

Curry made temporary housing stops at five different residence halls, including Crothers Hall, Roble Hall, Murray House, EAST House, and Yost House. At least two students reported that Curry had broken into their rooms while they were away. One girl even reported that Curry spent an entire weekend in her room while she was gone.

Despite these alarming reports, Curry managed to evade campus authorities until October 27 when he was allegedly caught stealing a TV from a dorm in the Crothers basement. Curry was then served a "stay-away" letter, which is necessary for issuing him a trespassing citation, should he ever be spotted on campus again.

Curry had first been reported to campus security last December.