An 18-year-old named Enrique “Henry” Ruiz-Sanchez from Fresno, Calif. told multiple students he attended Stanford as early as June. Sanchez did not live in any dorms and does not currently work on campus.

Branner resident assistants (RAs) told residents at hall meetings on Nov. 30 and in an email Tuesday morning that while Sanchez did not stay overnight in the dorm, he was not a resident and should not be let into the dorm.

Branner RAs wrote in a statement to The Daily that Sanchez was “a regular visitor” who was likely given entry by students. They described Sanchez as “misrepresenting [himself] as a student and agitating residents by asking invasive questions” during his visits.

University spokesperson Pat Lopes Harris wrote in a statement to The Daily that Sanchez “was advised [by the Department of Public Safety] that he is not allowed in private spaces such as dorms because he is not a student.”

According to Harris, Branner RAs notified the dorm’s resident fellow and the resident director on Nov. 29, while the DPS and residents were notified the next day. DPS spoke with Sanchez the same day, which he confirmed.

“Professional staff for all eight neighborhoods and Stanford Recreation have been made aware of this situation,” Harris wrote.

Sanchez, who works as a member services associate at a Stanford gym, denied that he was posing as a Stanford student. He said that he did not eat in dining halls or attend classes, and that the last time he visited Branner was in October. Adri Arquin ’26 said he spoke to Sanchez in Branner on Nov. 30.

Sanchez said that he was hired as a Stanford gym employee prior to Thanksgiving Break. 

However, Stanford Recreation and Wellness Executive Director Alex Accetta wrote to The Daily that Sanchez was not hired before Thanksgiving and was not approved to work until Dec. 5. Sanchez was never given an official Stanford ID Card or a stanford.edu address, Accetta wrote.

Sanchez also currently works as a licensed real estate agent in Palo Alto and as a server at a restaurant in San Mateo. Several students said they saw him in several campus buildings this quarter, including Branner Hall, the Arrillaga Center for Sports and Recreation, in dining halls and at fraternity parties.

While the details varied, multiple students said they were told by Sanchez that he was a student. Some said Sanchez told them he was currently a first-year student residing in Branner Hall or Crothers Hall. Other students said he told them he was taking a gap year to work on his real estate business.

While Sanchez avoided discussing specific classes with most students, Jonah Blaydes-Greenberg ’26 said he heard Sanchez talking to other frosh about taking an introductory seminar, PSYCH 21N: How to Make a Racist. 

Sanchez denied the allegations from multiple students claiming that he told them he was a student or lived in student housing.

“Will Curry … I’m nothing like that,” Sanchez said. Alabama local William Curry was removed from campus in October after living in multiple dorms while impersonating a Stanford student.

Sanchez works as a real estate agent at Keller-Williams Palo Alto and told many students he plans to become a millionaire through real estate by the end of the year. His Instagram stories and highlights show him walking through multi-million-dollar homes.

He currently only has one listing on Compass, a realty website, for a mobile home in Redwood City priced at $80,000.

Pedro Ochoa ’26, a Branner resident, said he met Sanchez during the first week of this quarter, when he began appearing in Branner areas including the lounge, laundry room and balcony. Ochoa said Sanchez frequently visited Ochoa’s room.

Sanchez told Ochoa that he lived in Crothers Hall, Ochoa said. According to Ochoa, Sanchez “was definitely attempting to portray himself as a Stanford student.”

James Eklund ’26, who is Ochoa’s roommate, said that Sanchez was “always a friendly guy” but “gave off a slightly ‘off’ vibe.” He described Sanchez’s “grindset” and networking goals as a prominent personality trait. He only spoke with students who could provide something for him, Elkund said. According to Eklund, Sanchez would go around Branner to find a computer science major to build him a website.

Sanchez said he was looking for someone to create a website. “I’m just trying to create relationships, whether I’m at the gym, whether I’m outside, whether I’m at Starbucks,” he said. “I know you guys are some of the smartest people in the world.”

Sanchez previously included Stanford University as a part of his educational background on LinkedIn, according to a source who provided screenshots to The Daily on the condition of anonymity. Despite telling students he was a frosh, his profile listed his graduation year as 2020. This section was removed by the time of publication and replaced by a tree emoji in the headline.

Sanchez wrote in the “About” section that his “goal is to transform businesses and lead through collaboration, communication and transparency.”

Sanchez was also in the Class of 2026 Stanford Patio group chat, which requires students to submit a photo of their acceptance letter to administrators. Sanchez did not respond to questions about how he was added to the platform.

Sanjay Swamy ’26 contacted him on Patio after Sanchez sent a message asking if anyone was planning to join Greek life on campus.

The two met on campus and would often talk about investing and finance in Swamy’s dorm room. Swamy, who founded a portfolio-managing company, told The Daily that Sanchez usually came to Branner to see him in the afternoon and was rarely in the dorm late at night.

“It’s not like I have any disdain for him,” Swamy said. “He came here with a mission or goal and he seems to be getting whatever benefit that he wanted out of being here.”

Sanchez also reached out to other frosh from Fresno.

Ochoa’s other roommate, Michael Fung ’26 said Sanchez reached out to him at the beginning of the school year to connect over both being from Fresno. Fung said he was initially “shook” upon meeting Sanchez because he had thought he was aware of all the other three students from his hometown.

Elijah Anderson ’26 attended Clovis West High School in Fresno with Sanchez. Anderson said he was aware that Sanchez had been presenting himself as a Stanford student to other frosh since June but that he knew this was false because Sanchez was not present at a scholarship meeting for Clovis West students accepted to Stanford.

According to Anderson, Sanchez also claimed he was accepted to Harvard College in mid-December and posted an acceptance letter on his Instagram story from a 2012 template available online.

Sanchez has not responded to questions about whether he was accepted by Stanford. 

According to Anderson, Sanchez previously had “Harvard” in his Instagram bio but replaced it with variations of “Stanford” and “Stanford ’26,” along with tree emojis.

Anderson said when he first saw Sanchez during the first week of this quarter at Casper Dining, one of his friends approached Sanchez and asked to see his ID card. Sanchez declined and walked away.

Sanchez contacted Anderson over Snapchat in Oct. to ask him to hang out on campus. When Anderson asked him to show his Stanford ID, Sanchez “got pissed,” Anderson said.

“He was like, ‘Why are you asking that? I knew from the start that you weren’t on my side,’” Anderson said. “He was like, ‘You want to act like you’re the only one special, but I can be here too.’”

Sanchez posted videos on TikTok of him interviewing students, though he did not introduce himself as a student. The only time where Sanchez directly claimed to be a student on his TikTok was in a video posted on Oct. 23 which included the caption “Pov you go to stanford and do real estate at 18.”

Eklund said that Sanchez would frequently walk into his room and ask Eklund to film TikToks with him.

Students also saw and interacted with Sanchez at EuroTrash, an annual party organized by the Kappa Sigma fraternity. Daniela Flores ’26 said she met him at the party and was invited by Sanchez to go to Branner with him and other Stanford students afterward. She said that she was under the impression that he was a student during their interactions.

“I don’t want to have to always be suspicious of someone not going here,” Flores said. “I feel like it’s not how your mentality should be when you’re going to school. You shouldn’t have to be wondering whether or not these people are faking it or not.”

Sanchez said he did not know why people thought that he was a student. 

“I can’t control how people think,” Sanchez said. “It’s not like I’m sleeping in the dorms, eating in the dining halls with you guys, going to your guys’ classes, like I’m not doing nothing like I’m just doing what I can do because I’m affiliated with Stanford.”

This article has been updated with information from the Stanford Recreation and Wellness Director regarding Sanchez’s employment status with Stanford gyms.