Student Imposter Lives at Stanford University for Eight Months

This is a rush transcript from "On the Record ," May 29, 2007. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: How about this for a crafty college student? Azia Kim moved into a dorm at Stanford University last fall. The 18-year-old freshman, well, or so she said she was a freshman, also said she was a human biology major. Azia ate at the dining hall, she worked late into the night on papers, she even used the dorm's study room. But was Azia Kim a good student? Well, not exactly. Apparently she wasn't even a student at all. Daniel Novinson, the editor for the Stanford Daily, joins us live from campus. Welcome, Daniel.

DANIEL NOVINSON, THE STANFORD DAILY: Hey, Greta. Thank you so much for having me. It's a real pleasure to be here.

VAN SUSTEREN: It's a pleasure to have you. Well, for those of us who couldn't get into Stanford, I guess we've learned of another way to get in.

NOVINSON: This is an absolutely crazy story, Greta. You've been doing this a lot longer than I have, but I know I've never heard of anything quite like this.

VAN SUSTEREN: How did she manage to do that? I mean, did she actually attend classes?

NOVINSON: You know, we're not 100 percent sure of whether or not she attended classes. But as you said, she definitely bought textbooks; she definitely knew when all the tests were. She got the syllabuses on line, anyone can get them and she was real meticulous about it. You know, she left no detail to chance. She knew what every quiz, every test was, and she would stress out just like any other Stanford student would.

VAN SUSTEREN: You know, I can understand why she would want to go to Stanford, but do you know why she picked Stanford?

NOVINSON: You know, for a lot of California kids, Stanford is kind of the preeminent university in this region of the country, so, you know, just a speculation.

VAN SUSTEREN: It is for us on this side — I don't mean to interrupt you, but for the rest of us on this side of the country, it is as well.

NOVINSON: Oh, well, I mean, there are great Ivy League institutions on the other side of the country as well, but for a lot of California kids, you know, Stanford is really kind of the premier place to go. So, I think it makes a lot of sense why someone might feel the pressure to kind of dupe everyone into thinking she got into Stanford.

VAN SUSTEREN: What do most students think should happen to her, if anything at all?

NOVINSON: You know, I think some students are angry. And Azia Kim's roommate is certainly pretty angry, and if I were Azia's roommate I would be angry about this whole thing, too. And you know, she said to us in a story that we printed at StanfordDaily.com on Thursday, "Personally I don't feel safe anymore." But I think most students generally are pretty bemused by the whole thing. I think they think Azia Kim really found a clever way — you know, she wasn't actively, physically harming anyone — and she found a pretty clever way to stick one to the man.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, here's another name for you — Elizabeth Okazaki. Do you know that name?

NOVINSON: I sure do. Elizabeth Okazaki — you know, my co-writer, Amit Arora, interviewed her and she was in her 30s. She was in her 30s and she lived in the Varian Physics Lab. Varian is the place that a lot of Stanford people win Nobel prizes out of. It's this high-tech lab with multi-million-dollar equipment. And my best understanding is that she essentially turned the place into her living room. She used the public lockers and she actually slept there for upwards of four years.

VAN SUSTEREN: So, like Azia, Elizabeth seemed to have been a student at Stanford, never admitted at Stanford, but seemed to enjoy the student life or the courses, the anguish, whatever it is, the education there?

NOVINSON: You know, this is purely speculation, Greta, but we had one university official who spoke to us in a story that we published the other day, and he said that he thought it was kind of likely that she was looking for quote, unquote a "sugar daddy." You know, she was maybe looking for a grad student in physics at Stanford who was on his way to being a professor and having a stable career. And maybe she was just kind of looking for somebody to support her.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, so that's two. People walk around campus now wondering, you know, wanting to check each other's SATs and grades to see if you got any other imposters?

NOVINSON: No, definitely not. You know, I just wanted to say that I've been a Stanford student for three years. I've loved every moment of it. And I've never once feared for my safety, so, I mean this is one of those once in every other decade story and I think students here are really afraid that Stanford, you know, doesn't get portrayed as a place that's unsafe, because it's certainly not. And students don't want the university to over respond and make things too harsh in terms of every day life here.

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, I don't think people think it's unsafe, but I think that people think that Stanford may have gotten scammed a little bit. So, I think probably, that — which is a little different. But anyway, Daniel, thank you very much for joining us, and good luck in your career. And if there are any other students like those two, let us know.

NOVINSON: OK. Thank you so much.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right.

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