Ryan Beardsley

Staff Writer

Students and teachers are urged to call Campus Safety immediately if a man who has been connected with a series of unsolicited written correspondence in the Media Center and Radio/TV Studio since Jan. 10 is spotted on campus.

According to an e-mail sent out to students, John Agolia of Elmhurst has entered the radio station on four occasions without permission and has dropped off handwritten letters. On one occasion, he handed the letter to a student.

Agolia is described as 5’6’’ about 170 pounds with gray, balding hair. He often wears a baseball-style hat.

Dave Elliot, senior director for University Student Safety, said Agolia has never acted in a threatening manner to Marywood employees or students. He was notified that he is banned from entering Marywood University property, due to the nature of his letters.

According to the email sent to students, “the content of the letters was at once critical of the music format of the station, but was largely concerned with ‘saving’ the students through religious intervention.”

“I think there are some mental health issues involved, and we’ve been working closely with outside agencies in addition to the Dunmore Police Department,” Elliot said. “We’ve had people outside of our institution talk to him—he hasn’t shown any violent behavior, but just because of the continued harassment-type actions.”

Michael Finegan, chief of campus safety, said that Agolia hasn’t been coming to campus as much as he had been, although he was stopped near campus one evening.

“He has not been to the media center since he was told he was banned from campus,” Finegan said on Thursday, January 20.

Finegan added that if Agolia is spotted on campus, Campus Safety will respond to the area and either contact the Scranton or Dunmore Police Departments, depending on the area of campus in which Agolia is located.

Elliot said that Campus Safety distributed a photograph of Agolia to different departments. Anyone who spots him is asked not to confront the man.

“Because he’s been notified that he’s banned from campus, if he enters campus again it is a trespassing violation,” Elliot said. “Don’t engage him in conversation, just call Campus Safety right away and we will immediately respond to the area.”

Campus Safety can be reached at 570-348-6242.