A Southern California woman who allegedly posed as a Stanford student for eight months lived in two different dormitories, ate at dining halls and attended ROTC training before being discovered in May and told to leave campus. At the same time, the University was investigating reports that a different woman had become a “permanent presence” in the physics department despite having no official affiliation with the school.
In a series of articles in late May, the Stanford Daily reported that Azia Kim, an 18-year-old from Fullerton, Calif., claimed to be a freshman who needed a place to stay because of a housing mixup, and persuaded sophomores Jenssy Rojina and Missy Penna to let her move into their room in Kimball last September. Kim—who had neither a Stanford ID nor a dorm key—slept in the room and in the Kimball lounge most of fall and winter quarters, and moved out in April. She then moved into a room in Okada with junior Amy Zhou, whose roommate was overseas. Kim kept the window in the ground floor room open day and night, allowing her access. Zhou told the Daily she merely assumed Kim “wanted a breezy room.”
Kim attended ROTC training classes with other Stanford students at Santa Clara University, and was issued military gear worth about $1,350, the Daily reported. She allegedly forged a transcript showing grades good enough to warrant a Dean’s Award from ROTC officials.
In May, Kim was ordered to leave campus after Okada RA Soo Kim, ’08, grew suspicious and learned from the housing office that Kim was not a student. At press time, both Stanford officials and local police were investigating the matter.
Meanwhile, the Daily reported that a woman with no apparent Stanford affiliation had “for all intents and purposes made the Varian Physics Lab her home” for much of the past four years. The Daily said Elizabeth Okazaki attended graduate physics seminars, used student offices and occasionally slept in the building. Stanford officials issued a “stay away” letter to Okazaki on May 25 and were conducting an investigation.
