If you were a resident of the dorms, and you found out after the fact that someone — anyone — had been in your room while you weren’t there, how would you feel about it?

Would you be thrilled? Probably not.

What if that person was a convicted criminal?

That may sound crazy. But that’s exactly what may have happened over winter break.

During the break, inmates from the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison delivered furniture to Maple Hall through a program of the Iowa Prison Industries. The furniture is manufactured by the prisoners in Des Moines.

Director of Residence Randy Alexander said in an interview with the Daily that the inmates were probably in residents’ rooms, but he did not know for sure. Other officials said that if the inmates were in students’ rooms, they would have been supervised.

We’re not trying to sound paranoid here.

But it does not sit well that university-hired people, who are so distrusted by the state of Iowa that they have to live in a penitentiary, may be in student rooms.

It’s true that using convicts for labor isn’t anything new. Many take part in industries while serving time.

It’s also true that these inmates aren’t drug kingpins or rapists or murders. Officials say that they’re well-behaved, exemplary inmates who aren’t a threat to society.

Inmates aren’t inhuman, and they do deserve second chances. But why do they have to work in a place where students’ belongings are?

The inmates may have been supervised, but who knows how closely? Roger Baysden, director of Iowa Prison Industries, told the Daily that usually five inmates and three staff people deliver and install the furniture.

With that ratio, it’s possible that an inmate could easily sneak something out of a resident’s room.

Iowa State used the inmates to install furniture in student rooms last summer. But there were no students living in the rooms then, with no personal belongings easily accessible.

Many students also keep personal or private papers in their rooms, including documents with their Social Security numbers. Some could do a lot of damage with those pieces of information.

No, it isn’t an earth-shattering revelation that some convicts may have been moving furniture around on campus. But students who entrust their belongings to the university during a semester break should actually be able to trust that those things will be safe.

Students deserve better than inmates in their dorm rooms.

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Iowa State Daily Editorial Board: Sara Ziegler, Greg Jerrett, Kate Kompas, Carrie Tett and David Roepke.