PALO ALTO — Azia Kim arrived at Stanford University last fall from Fullerton and took up residence on campus at Kimball Hall.
She ate in the dining hall and seemed to do her homework, often working late into the night on school papers. She told people she was a human biology major and talked about her upcoming exams.
There was only one problem: She had not been admitted as a student.
Relying on the generosity and friendliness of Stanford's students, the Fullerton Troy High School graduate managed to keep up the pretense for eight months, until she was found out this week, according to university officials, Kim's friends and news accounts.
Kim was asked to leave the campus within hours of being discovered Monday. Stanford officials said they would investigate how the 18-year-old could have evaded security procedures designed to limit access to residence halls, university computers and dining rooms, and determine if any laws were broken.
"We consider these allegations, if confirmed, to be a serious breach of security within the residence halls," Greg Boardman, vice provost for student affairs, said Friday. "We are conducting a full investigation into what occurred and how security can be improved."
Neither Kim nor her family could be located for comment.
As details of Kim's stay at Stanford emerged, Stanford officials said Friday that they would order another alleged impostor to stay away from the campus. The woman allegedly posed as a researcher and lived at the university's Varian Physics lab for four years even though she had no affiliation with the university, the Stanford Daily student newspaper reported.
"We recognize that this allegation, following earlier reports of an individual falsely impersonating an undergraduate, raises important questions about campus security," Jeffrey H. Wachtel, senior assistant to President John L. Hennessy, said in a statement.
Even with the security concerns, some Stanford students expressed sympathy for Kim.
"Like everyone else, I was freaked out at first because of the security violation," said sophomore Wilson Velasco, 19. "Now I'm just sorry for her. To be that desperate, something's got to be wrong."
Other students suggested that anyone clever enough to pull off such a charade deserved to attend the famously selective university, where tuition, room and board cost more than $45,000 a year.
