A current Republican Club officer said an individual, posing as a transfer student from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, first approached him at the Republicans’ table at the first-year activities fair in early September and inquired about final clubs.

The officer and Brian C. Grech ’03, president-elect of the HRC, said the same student signed up to run for secretary of the group under the name Philip A. Shaw, but that he withdrew his name on Dec. 4, the day before the elections.

There is no Philip Shaw enrolled in the College, according to the registrar’s office.

The HRC officer said members became suspicious of the individual’s identity after hearing about the BSC incident and “were preparing to confront him with evidence that he was not an undergraduate,” but he withdrew his name before they had a chance.

“He exposed a major loophole in the Harvard system for security and as a UC member, that concerns me,” Grech said. “I was very shaken up, because this is an issue not only of personal safety, but of campus safety.”

In his biography, e-mailed to HRC members, “Shaw” claimed he was a former treasurer of the North Carolina Federation of College Republicans (NCFCR), a former intern for the Bush campaign and an affiliate of Currier House.

While the NCFCR website lists a Philip A. Shaw as its treasurer, nobody at Harvard who has met “Shaw” could confirm whether the information included in his biography is true.

Grech said he met several times with the candidate and “had no reason to suspect he wasn’t telling the truth.”

The HRC officer said, however, he and other members have tried and been unable to reach “Shaw” since he withdrew.

The possible connection between Shaw and the BSC suspect is upsetting, Grech said.

“I think there’s a possibility I had been lied to by someone I had no reason to doubt. It shook me up that someone could dupe so many people,” he said.

Michael G. Housman ’02, president of Sigma Chi, said “Shaw” rushed the fraternity in September but did not receive a bid.

“I feel some relief that we didn’t give him a bid,” Housman said.

Housman said that after not receiving a bid, “Shaw” continued to call Sigma Chi members regularly to find out their weekend plans and would show up at the same places they said they were going.

“I wasn’t appreciating him calling me regularly,” Housman said.