Ghosts are strangely absent from campus

17 Pages·2014·0.67 MB·English

4/0SU~~1915·
Ghosts are strangely absent
Oclobe< 24, 1985/0SU onCampUl/5 .
from campus or are they?
~
Campus
orange blossorrJS lingers near University gh~ts:
By Gornma Mcluckie
Hall in rememberanee of the many
For a campus 112 years old, Ohio State weddings performed there. Surely there Rare occurences
sure lacks for ghost stories. was one jilted bride or groom whose spirit
N0w there iW some rumors of a .l onged to return to the chapel to zap
presence in Oxley ,and Mack halls. Not a coup1es· whose nuptials turned out more at Ohio State?
ghost,.,mind you, more like a weak happily.
poltergeist. And there Is the guy buried in "I've never heard Of any," says Ruth ' • 1, - • : • ~""' -
the north wall of Bricker Hall. But it's Jones, llbniry associate 1 in the
naenvyeorn bee: en re. co. rded that he's bother.e d University Archive$. And' she's· been ~198-4. G-ebh4ard.t no w is director of new
arotlf)d_ campus for 35 years. .
business development for-T~ for
It's kind Of disappointing. "Ask Bill Wahl, maybe he'll know," she People, Columbus.~. mxn 1900-
Shouldn't there be a phantom of the suggests. Wahl is known to get around 1983, he was the sechuarlilsty: IT-l-ll089l.l' f.o. r
Orton Tower? Maybe a hoary tenured campus. As manager of the Office of the south residence
professor who was especially fond of Visitor and Community Relations, It's his According to Gebhardt, at iilght the
"Carmen Ohio." After passing to his Job:
security gµards entertained each otiw
reward, he returned to good old Orton Jones \nay be a skeptic, but Wahl has with stories of a woman who died In
Hall to check out the chimes .. had persOilal experience with a ghostly Oxley and whose ghost remains.
However, there's not a clue that that ever phenomenOn at the University. "Supposedly, Oxley was closed as a
has happened. Naturally, it was the poltergeist at Oxley residence hall because so many~
And it seems strange that no smell of Hall. And naturally, it wasn't that scary. reported that their~ had seen
Oxley Hall is not one of your glamOUr the ghost," he says. ·
buildings on campus. Along with Mac!< Well, no matter. Gebhardt vouch8s that
Hall, it aex udes a misma Of oldness. Not at the.lights and door routine Is "absolutely
all like ctiarming antique, understand. true." He giv.es examples of mysterlcius
'.Vahl and other people claim that goings on involving Christmas tree tinsel,
something goes around the buildings cotton balls and a ladder. ·
turning on lights that were turned off, and And down In the bowels of Oxley Hall
opening doors that were closed. where it joins with Mac!< Hall, there is a
metal grid, he says. Unattributable
"I was down In the basement when the
clunking sounds sometimes echo al the
lights went out," Wahl says.
way down t'ie halls when there are no
Wahl's story Is corroborated by Randy humans In the area .
.G ebhardt, who received a master's
:legree in journalism from Ohio State in No living humans that Is.
\:Ol1Unuod on 1uge 5. Maybe ghost story tellers-at Ohio State
have Something to talk aoout'after' all.
5
_ THE OHIO STATE LANTERN OASIS, Thursday, October 30, 1~ 86
OSU buildings spooked
by thievish poltergeists
"We called the dorm director and
By Laurie Jamieson
Loured the building. We saw a ladder
l.antern staff writer
Lhat had been on the third floor was
Just when you thought Ohio State
now on the second floor. \Ve went to
\\'as safe from ghosts, hatchet men
Lhe balcony and started seeing tinsel
Y•ith white n1asks and yes, even Jason
lying on the noor leading out of a
und Cujo, a few OSU buildings could
dorn1 room," he said.
be the setting chosen for the next
1'hey entered the room \vhere the
Stephen King movie.
tinsel v.·as coming from and im.medi
Oxley Hall, the first residence hall
ately the director realized the Christ-
on campus and now an office building,
1nas tree that had been in the room
has a history of unexplained occur-
... .-as missing, he said.
1·ences and folklore, said Randy Geb
"Someone had gotten into the room
hardt, a security guard for south area
und dragged the Christmas tree doY1n
residence halls from January,
the hallway, but the weird thing was
1980 - December, 1982.
the tinsel just stopped in the middle
"In the 1930s and '40s, Oxley was
of the hallway."
un all-female residence hall. The
The tree was never heard from
folklore was that a women died and
ugain.
her ghost still lives there, and strange
Tunnels connect the basements of
things happen," he said.
all the courtyard buildings on south
"Because of the strange things that
campus.
went on, the residence hall got a bad
Gebhardt said in the tunnel between
reputation and parents wouldn't let
Mack and Oxley Halls the basement
their daughters live there. So it shut
down." floor is made out of long grids that
when walked on make a loud clanging
Gebhardt said when he was a
noise. Loud enough to carry to the
security guard, other guards used to
dorm rooms (or wake the dead).
stand in the courtyard in the middle
"Most people try to avoid walking
of Canfield, Mack and Oxley, and see
on the grids, and walk on the regular
lights at Oxley go on and off at 3 a.m.
part of the floor because the sound is
"All doors and windows would be
locked and no one is there at that too eerie!"
hour, so how could that have hap Bill Wahl, manager of community
pened? They found doors that had and visitor relations, said he was
been locked were open." curious about the strange thin&-s that
One incident Gebhardt described were happening, and decided to go to
occurred during Christmas break, the Oxley Hall basement.
1980. "I went down there with another
"We had a female security guard by person, and we walked about 50 feet
Mack and Canfield outside. Another into the hallway tunnel and the lights
~ecurity guard and myself were mak- went out," he said.
1 ng the rounds. She got a strange "We ran back out of there so fast.
feeling someone was looking at her. When we got to the light switcb it
When she turned around, she looked had been turned off, but no one was
up at one of the balconies of Mack there to turn it off."
und saw the door to the dorm slam Ken Decker, manager of south area
shut." security since 1984, said so far in
Gebhardt said she called him on the Oxley Hall, he has never had any
radio and said that something strange strange things happen to him or his
"'us going on. security guards.
"aIl'lv e never heard anyone so. scared Maybe the ghosts are gone now, so
tn my life ... rest easy. But then again, ..
1
THE OHIO STATE LANTERN, Wednesday, October 24, 1890
Halloween
tales haunt
university
By Teresa Hailey
Lantern staff VtTiter
2
Legend has it there is a haunt THE OHIO STATE LANTERN, Wednesday, October 24, 1890
ed elevator on the OSU campus.
This elevator holds the secret to a
young woman's death.
The legend goes that many
years ago a professor murdered a "Bobbing for apples, drinking believe the Halloween tradition of ''You just don't find it tied to the
young female student in the cider, wearing costumes and nlasks, trick-or-treating, or beggar's night, belief systems that you n1ight have
northwest elevator of Denney these are the types of beliefs and started in New York where a group 100 years ago," Barnes said.
Hall, while it was stopped on the traditions that are still certainly of children went door to door beg "Halloween has been picked up for
fifth floor. carried out around Halloween ging for n1oney, he said. comn1ercial interests as well."
The professor fled the scene, time,'' Barnes said. •·The children often wore their Barnes said he can remember
leaving the \vOman to bleed to However, beliefs involving evil faces blackened with cork, but still when they started selling costumes
death. spirits are not prevalent anymore. this doesn't necessarily mean that at \Voolworth in 1950. Now, it's a
Now, 'vhen the elevator stops Those beliefs \vere more co1nmon in there haven't been Jong traditions of huge, industry connected with
on the fourth floor to go down, the the late middle ages, he said. disguising oneself,'' he said. masks, and plastic
dead woman's spirit makes the Barnes, who teaches folklore. Also. trick-or·treating used to be jack-o'-lanterns, he said.
elevator go back up to the fifth said legends promote the notion liinited to one night a year, but now "I think that Halloween is also
floor to save her before taking you that the spirits abound on kid~ :;eC?-m to be?-able to trick·or-ti·eat beginning to particularly stir those
down to the floors below. Halloween. The holiday is linked to three nights, depending on where fearful of satanic cults and
Do you believe it? Or not? a seasonal, nature-related cycle, the\" lh·e. Barnes said. satanism," he said. "I think there
"Yes, you hear many tales simi moving into the season of death, :.l belie,·e that this practice. par certainlv has been a revival of anxi
lar to this during this time of the which is winter, he said. ticularly, is a sign of the increase ety abollt that."
year, and they are all over the All sorts of other traditions, prac secularization of Halloween," he
world not just here at Ohio State," tices, and beliefs gather together said. Folklorists are most interested in
said Daniel R. Barnes, associate with this notion to 1nake Halloween Halloween used to be a religious traditions and customs surrounded
professor of English. what it is today, Barnes said. feast in the early Christian church. by the calendar event, he said.
"But it is important to keep in An1erican beliefs and traditions and still is for the orthodox All "Even though \\'e are interested in
mind, thaf is just what they are - are relatively recent, he said. Saints' Da~·. Barne::; said. the supernatural. revived spirits
tales, with no evidence to back "Disguising yourself and going and legends' of ghosts. \'ery often
them up," he said. door to door extorting treats fron1 "It was tied to \•ery t:lrong, theo· they just don't seen1 to be·.tied,lo·
peOple is really On.J~'.:i.raceab!e back ·-rctical beliefs and practices. but Halloween:· he said.
See STORY page 2 to the late 1920s at the earliest,'• now I think it is tied to the decline
Barnes said. of the influence of the church," he Those types of things seem to
Barnes said n1ost scholars said. happen all the tii11e, Barnes said.
i
THE OHIO STATE lANTERN, Thursday, October 25, 1990
Oxley Hall filled with tales of spirits
ALL SAINT'S DAY: "• sc·ou·ar;·dfii-'(;18'i1d -Young
Festival of the dead was gradually people try to determine their future
By Keith Montgomery Now e\•ery Dec. 17, the day the Incorporated Into a Christian spouses by throWfng apple
Umtern stall writer woman is said to hnve died, her Ritual. Here .are other ways ;-"parings over.thefr shoulder.
third floor l'OOm lighl is supposed lo lHharolluowgheoeunl hEausr obpeee.n celebrated .. Roman·S -APPJeS afe a' tradition
Something is amiss in Oxley be on and sct-eaming can be he:ird, posslbly b&caUse the Romans had
HalNl.o one knows what or who it is, PART TWO sheH seaiind.e s said one year she dl'ove •Eonncge lcaanrvde d& o uItr beeleatns,d p o-taPteooepsl ie . ,,;k /t'< aP ofemstofvnaaf, athroeu Rnodm thains gtiomded feosrs of
but many people ha,·e heard dis by the old dormitory on lhe seven and turnips to use as lanterns,, on .". ..' \'.:'fruit and trees:·~;'· ·ii~·~· ·
ttuhreb binugil dtianlge'ss onfo wa -gdheosesrt tewdh hoa wllsa.l ks teeRntehs iadnedn ttsh eo fl iMghatc wk aasn. din Cfaacntf, ioelnd. Halloween. ·' ··;i.< • .·r ·1' • ;.' ,'.' \•·W ·l l·:f>e s"...;.;'.: _f:'.~.LU O"'•O" dt; o·m ·a r· lc'a ";
woPmearnh, alepfsl aitl oinse tohYee rs Cpihrriils tomfa as ovcecrusirtryin gh ains Ooxnlleyy bHeaelnl. Tkheee puinnig· htoa ltelsll .h a\'e their own ghost stories • tEraudritoiopne t o- 1b1a klse a a E cuorinop Ien aan cak. e. · Ssttoonnee wanadS pmuits Istl Inng ath beo'nnefixret . :t f. t't:) e· ":";:; /·
ain wthoem 1e9n3'0s sr ewshidene ntchee bhuaillld. iAngs wthaes sthtact iesatrilcys 1 o9n8 0csa. mpus deaths since mePmabmer Hfroolmlo , Ba refcokrisnveilrl en, igsahitd s stahfef TIbnhetoe r iptchehe.r scRoainnk gew.s h Twohe egr eefi tnasdl tsehore ob cfao ktihened w lll , wmiothrinni nttgi et hyee a·p re. rson w"'o~"u lHd d·i e.
story goes, she was securely locked Lisa Heines, a former OSU stu heard the woman who lived on the ring wlll be marr!~ soon. • En91a"'nd -1tWaS'001yon
in for safoty, but when the hall was dent froin \Vorthington, said she third floor com1nitted suicide. Halloween that the help of the
reopened, she was found dead. heard the woman in Oxlev Hall was People on the night staff always •Poland -On the eve of All Souls devil was lovoked for fortune
At 'vn0a1coa 1nliut srtroato1omri b iyn S Ocaxnl Ce~yH eHssa/lll?hc Lantern thOhoSetATyUo la trrhr eaeocb uaoognruhydn sdms ,ue otxcrhheies ttrth eaoa linens s ahn onoef aye rc \sd'maideynea.p ntNuhcoess wfinoiust·in·hdSd eo t hmthhaeeneh g owbewudoi..l m dthianeng d,a"o nosardsi daw · H esreteirn aJeonsc.gk eedr werSe eaef rHaiAdL tLoO cWheEcEkN t hpe adgoeo r2s con- ·:' itDnavab<yllse ltJQ hs elee·. .' t f:gwa;"mu:t:te:ihrlsy: \e 5gx.a tr't\{ah)" ep.':":rlc'sa· c"'a.:1e:r;:,os u •.f~· 'no''.. cr:*: ft:~P ~\.2l.(. ..h~:. \!;e{,J.1.:,.S,J1f:\i.''o..riJ:p>>b:'. >:.:: .·J0;;.e; ;l,lii!);~fJ;'i.~!'JQ.:.t;~,;cS>os.;.OJ ~:e:l1/>c;J;" ;..R.;:'rW·C:::0;E:;·~, :t·J,/..·. ...\ ~·~'R.%<f~tM ..l." :,~i'a:)c2; ';t:B,(;:J'"r·""f:if;t .}t..ii8..(,. yzn+.:,tl<,.c· ~,~:i71tt'•Y -!:r::1".1'$>J;: ~w .·.. :
2
THE OHIO STATE LANTERN. Thursday, October 25, 1990
necting Oxley and .r..fack halls StUd('nt;;. <o'host of Oxley Hall.
b('('ause, for s01ne unexplained rea OSU 1·ecoi·ds show the building Bi1l \Vahl, manager of communi·
son, the doors somethnes would be was renovated in 1967 to pro\'idc ty and \'isitor relations for universi·
found unlocked during the iniddle of offices for expanding university ty com1nunity relations
the night, Hollo said. depai1mcnts. administration. said he has heard
Helen Ivon-. a senior froin I\'ew Janet Tebhen. a junior from two ghost stories about Oxlev Hall.
York and fo111ler night staff manag K'ewark. said she was told there One story corrobo1·ates.Hollo's
er. said she heurd the woinan's sui· were thl'ee women li\'ing in 11ack tale of a young lady who committed
cide set off a stl'ing of suicides Hall in the 1960s who had a suicide suicide in the building and now
ainong other wotnen in the hall. pacl. They sneaked into Oxley Hall makes the third floor lights go on
h·o1y said the building had to be to kill themseh·es and now m-e said du1·ing winte1· quarter, when she is
closed down to prevent others frotn to haunt the building. said to have died.
attempting suicide. Tebben said she also heard the \\\1hl also heard that women Jh•
Acru1"di11g to another rumor. the ghost w~ts not a woman. but ing in Oxley H11ll dtiring the 1950's
residenee hall was closed after \\.illiam Oxley Thompson. the for· wt•t-e frightened into hn\'ing a ghost
many parents refused to allow their mer OSU pre.::;ident for whom the hunt because they would find doors
ehild1-en to live then? because of the building-is munt><I. open. and food and othe1· bclongings
gho~t ;;:.tode,.: they had h('ard from After the 1·en(wation:>. the Office missing. But all the hunt turned up
ofComnn1tt•r Studt•nt :\ffa ir:; mo,·ed w11,.: n vagrant lh·ing in the attic, he
to Oxlev Ila]!. when! it was located
~nid.
for 15 vCar.:>.
Luther Smith. udministl'ative \Yahl said he and a co-worker
assbtant of coinmutcr student had their own poltergeist expel'i
uffairs. said hl' heard the gho,;lly encc when they toured Oxley Hall.
rumor:; when hi:; department was H" und Randy Gebhardt were
in the buikting. exploring the basement tunnel that
"So1nething about a girl killing con netts Oxley and i-.taek halls
·herself inn bathtub,~· Smith said.··· ·~·when the lights.went out. · •
To Smith·:.; knowledge. no one
bud e\'l'I' seen a gho,;t. \\'ithl di:.:tinctlv remembers turn·
Another OSl" employt>e al~ ha,.: ing the switch On. but when they
henrd rumor;: 1.1nd t•xpedeneed his went back to inspect the switch it
own ··cto:;e encounter" with the ~n1:o in t!w off position. he said.
THE OHIO STATE LANTERN, Friday, October 26, 1990
Students say woman in pink haunts Pomerene
Mirror Lake skater in the areas can be found, only It is hard to find people willing hearsay, but the story about the
rumors and hearsay abound about to talk about the sighting because lady in pink could fit in 'vith
joins Pomerene ghost, the ghostly legends. many do not believe what they sa\v, Po1nerene's past.
There is another ghost as well, Interestingly, most of the sight Mary Yost, a physical education
OSU legends tell
PART Heines said. She appears on Mirror ings of the skater are by \Vitnesses teacher at Ohio State for 53 years,
Lake. standing on a Pon1erene Hall bal said Pomerene Hall \Vas a popular
THREE
Only on cold wintry nights a cony overlooking the lake, while gathering place for \Vomen.
By Keith Montgomery ghostly skater appears on the lake, the lady in pink can be seen when Roon1 213 \Vas once the site of
Lantern staff wri!e< said Dorrie \\1ells, an adn1inistra looking across the north side of elaborate meetings and afternoon
Lisa Heines, a fonner OSU stu tive assistant in the health, physi Mirror Lake to\\'ards Po1nerene teas, said Yost.
Pomerene Hall's clai1n to fame is dent front \Vorthington, said as the cal education and recreation Hall. The party room. now a dance
the original party anilnal: a woman legend goes, a lady dressed in a department. No one has ever linked the two studio, is also famous for its secret
that just.will not leave the pa1ty. pink party dress walks across the The female skater is dressed in ghosts, but it is curious that the door according to \Veils.
Who is the lady in pink and why 1'00111 to a window and then Yanish· old-style clothing and is warn1ing lady in pink chooses to \valk to a Once, a chaperone's door blend
would she choose to haunt roon1 es. her hands in a n1uff, she said. windo\v overlooking the lake. ed into the wall so well hardly any
213 Pomerene Hall? Heines said she has only heard \Vhile it is not as \vell kno\vn or The hvo women are also dressed one knew it was there.
No one really knows, but some of a fe\v people \\'ho have seen the talked about, the ghost of Mirror in clothing \Vhich could be from the Ho"·e\'er, a handle and locks
people \Vho have seen the appari ghost. Lake might be the campus's n1ost same period, \Vells said. have been added that now make it
tion say she is definitely there. No documentation of any deaths seen ghost. She said the ghost stories are all easy to see.
j
THE OHIO STATE LANTERN, Monday, October 29, 1990
Kappa Sigma haunted by 7-year-old
,. •"All HallO'w EV'en'! Was flfst cefebr8.ted
i·lnthefitthcenturye.c.·::>.r··:!~:.'?, ·· · ·-·
By Keith Montgomery said. the basement playing with a Ouija
Lantern staff writer One summer, residents investi board.
gated the sound of someone playing The board spelled out that a 7-
Most children dream of staying billiards, Gilby said. year-old spirit was in the house, but
in a candy store or toy store forever. All the investigators found in the Thompson could not recall her
But members of the Kappa PART rec room was balls moving and no name.
Sigma fraternity, 1842 Indianola FOUR one around, he said. Thompson swears no one was
Ave., say a 7-year-old girl is spend The investigators reported all cheating, and said everyone
ing eternity in their house. the pool cues were in the rack, but involved was spooked.
Fraternity members have some it looked as if someo11e was playing, Phi Kappa Psi members say
interesting ghost stories to tell. his 7-year-old daughter's life, Gilby Gilby said. equally n1ysterious events have
David Gilby, a junior from said. House members have also com taken place at their house across
Monroe and the house historian, He said ever since the house plained of hearing the sounds of a the street, 124 E. 14th A\·e.
said the fraternity's house used to becan1e a fraternity in 1895, n1en1- parly on the upper floor when no Jeff Haskett, a senior from Stow
be the home of Ohio Governor bers have reported seeing a little one was up there. and president of the fraternity, said
Mordecai Bartley and his family. girl running around the mansion or Mark Thon1pson, a senior front the house was built to be a gover
Bartley was governor of Ohio standing in corners of the bed Cleveland, told of one investigation nor's tnansion.
from 1844 to 1846. rooms. in which he took part. ..
\Vhile the governor lived in the Unexplainable events have also 'I\vo Halloweens ago, Thompson '·
home, a fire in the basement took taken place in the base1nent, he said, he and three friends were in See GHOST page 2
2
THE OHIO STATE LANTERN, Monday, October 29, 1990
Dudng the construction, a car The one-time ballroom, now only particularly fond ofbffiiards.---
hpeen stae1id· .f ell fro1n the roof and died, uly:; eacb\ of,o·re ctlhmep hleoru msee eptrien:gosid, ei;n; fdsi 1b·eecdt soulno.d1se mobfe sros mhaevoen eo fpl:leany iinngv ebsitlilgiaatredds
House members and alumni room. in the house baseinent. They have
belie\·e the carpenter's spirit still U pan inve;,tigation, no one could found 1noving balls but no one
haunt:s the house, said Ha.skett C!\'er he found, but a window would there.
Ha.,.;kett and pn.•\•ious pn.>.,.;ident:;; be open or somelhing else would be
hil\·e all heard footsteps in the chap· obdou;;ly wrong.
Haskett said alun1ni, especially
Itoeckrt. .>rcoLo 1n when it wa:; secureh. · th('. JPu:h:.it Pliskie f >Kpeacptrpea a Slsiog i"n'eea1·1s1 .,s: htoo sbte, pthree vsiao1unse gphroesstildye lnetgse,n hdsa.v e all told
Soul of prehistoric man
flustered in Orton Hall
THE OHIO STA TE LANTERN, Monday, October 31, 1994
By Laura Crabbe 1940s, is also present on the campus.
Lanternstaffwriter "Dr. Warner stays here to guide
the student teachers and students in
Ohio State is haunted. the science fields,"he said.
Cindy Bethel, a Columbus psy Medical students, in particular,
chic/channeler said ghosts roam the may have uneasy feelings when
Ohio State campus everyday. workingwith cadavers.
''There's thousands of them and "A lot oft he medical students in the
they're everywhere. One of the rea labs probably have an uneasy feeling
sons I've never been real comfortable because a lot of the cadavers they use
coming down here (to campus) is have spirits that didn't go on (to the
because there's so many of them. light) and they're hanging out near
Since they can't communicate with their body. They don't really like peo
people, they want to talk to me all the ple touchingtheir body," Bethel said.
time. It's overwhelming," Bethel Bethel and Till said the spirit of a
said. prehistoric man with a humped back,
The uneasy feeling many experi· thick hair, and a protruding fore
ence while walking on campus at head, lives in Orton Hall. They said
night may have more to do with he is very confused and disturbed
ghosts than safety, said Bethel. about what he sees everyday.
"During the night time, they go "He doesn't understand the peo
everywhere. It's when they're most ple, the technology, or the building
active and they have free-roam then," itself. He watched it (Orton Hall) be
Bethel said. built, but he still doesn't understand
Medium/channel Thom Till, said howitcouldhappen,"Bethelsaid.
the spirit ofa Elaine or Miriam Hoyer Bethel said the prehistoric man
is among those on campus. Till said cannot speak but sometimes will cre
Hoyer was involved in the university ate disturbances to get people's
administration in the 1920s and has attention.
remained on campus because of her "Sometimes he'll bang on things,
love for the university. doors will slam, or guttural noises
''\Vhereverthepresident'sofficeis, can be heard when he tries to commu
that's her home base. But she consid nicate," she said.
ers the whole campus her domain. The prehistoric man's spirit, who
She's like a little archangel lady that has been trapped here for millions of
saves little girls at night sometimes years, is upset the artifacts and foir
and she's the one who gives you the ails in the Orton Hall museum have
goose bumps so you know when been taken from the earth.
Laura Crabbe /the Lantern you're in a dangerous situation,"Till "He wants to empty this room out
Psychic channelers Cindy Bethel, left, and Thom Till daim the ghost of a prehis said. andbucyittoputitbackintheearth.
toric man inhabiting Orton Hall won't rest until this skeleton of a giant three-toed Till also said Dr. \Varner, a biology
sloth and other museum relics arc reburied. or botany professor in the 1930s or SeeGHOST/Page3
cheered up, Till said. (when a person dies)," said Bethel, claim to have a ghosts. Till says this is take drugs, it wide-opens all of your was there so he went back to study-.
"If eomeone's depressed and not "\Vhen eouls see the light, they don't bees.use many ofthemdo. energy centers ... You're open to any· ing. When it happened again he
fe eling\Vell, come here. This is 'happy understand what it is and that they "There's a lot in sorority and fra thing coming through, which is why heard someone laughing. He ran out
hall,. . Till said. need to go to it. They get stuck here ternity houses because usually some people have what they call 'bad the door and downstairs and saw our.
The ghost of Woody Hayes was until they decide they know to move there's a lot of partying and drinking. trips"'Bethelsaid . chandeliers, whichareten-feet-high,.
. . that'swhereitbelongs,"Tillsaid. even at the game in Pennsylvania on or they may feel there is something When you drink or use drugs, you Jason Thrush, a member of the 6Waying,"Th.rushsaid.
Orton Hall has other ghosts. When this past weekend, Till said. Howev they need to help with and they stay open yourself up and are able to tune Kappa Sigma fraternity, said mem· Although many people are afraid
students in Orton Hall feel a cold chill er, Till said Hayes mostly spends his here," Bethel said. into their (ghosts} vibrations," she hers have heard and seen many of ghosts, Bethel said they will not
or bear a loud noise, it's probably the timewithhisfamily. The reason many people are said. strange things in their house. cause harm.
ghost of Edward Orton trying to stop "He's not as enthusiastic about unable to see ghosts on campus is Anyone who drinks alcohol or uses "One time a guy got home late at "There's none of them that is going
them from misbehaving, Bethel said. football obviously now as he used to because ghosts move at a higher hallucinogenic drugs opens themw nightinthesummer.Hewentintohis to cause harm. Ift hey're causing dis·:
"He (Orton) doesn't go much for be. Hespendsmoretimewith his wife vibrational level than humans do, selves up to ghosts, said Bethel and room and started studying when he turbances, it's probably because
nonsense. When students start act and his kids. On campus, he does help Bethel said. Till. heard footsteps coming to his door. they're confused and they don't knoW
ing up in here-he has a really bard a lot of the players and coaches," Till "It's like seeing a fan, when it "When you drink alcohol or you He opened the door and saw no one what to do,"Bethel said.
time with that and he makes his pres said. moves real slow, you can't see
ence known,"Bethelsaid. Bethel said when a person dies, through it, but when you move it up to
University Hall is a "happy" and their eoul is supposed to go toward a a faster vibration or rotation, you're
social place for ghosts of past stu very strong light, which is God. Many going to be able to see through it.
dents, faculty and staff to hang out, times, however, the souls do not real That's the only difference between
Till and Bethel said. ize they are to go to the light and, being in the physical body and not 3
"I see little kids with their beanies instead, get "'trapped" here on earth being in the physical body. They're THE OHIO STA TE LANTERN, Monday, October31, 1994
and sweaters. It's like a big kinder until they realize or are directed to go still here but you see through them
garten for older kids," Till said. towardtheligbt. because they're moving at a higher
University Hall is a place where o.rhe mm-ie 'Ghost' is a pretty accu· vibration than we are," she said.
people should go if they need to be rate description of what happens Many sororities and fraternities
Voi.29, No. 7-This issue - onCarnpus, OSU's Newspaper for Faculty and Staff Page 1 of 8
A '
T · H · E
on
~1r.i
Oct. 21, 1999 School Spirits
Vol. 29 No. 7
Tllis issue By Susan Wittstock
On a chilly fall morning, when the leaves drop golden
and burnished from the trees and the mist is drifting up
from Mirror Lake, a lady can sometimes be seen gliding
over the water. She skates, her long pink dress floating
around her, in a dreamy silence that separates the living
from the dead.
Or so the story goes ...
OSUDnks
The Lady of the Lake is just one of the many ghost
stories that have attached themselves to Ohio State's
Columbus campus. Pomerene Hall, Oxley Hall, Hopkins
Hall, the Ohio Union- all have had tales which change
with each new generation of occupants- and with each
onCan1pus honu~
telling- but the ghostly lore persists.
The Lady of the Lake
"The most famous one is the Lady of the Lake," says Bill
Wahl, retired manager of Ohio State's Visitor and Parent
Relations and the Parent's Association. Wahl has
become an unofficial collector of campus stories since
he began giving ghostly tours during parents weekends
in the early 1990s.
"For about 18 years, I was director of the University
campus tour program, and in that capacity I learned
about every building and over the years collected these
stories," he says. "Probably all of this is hearsay, but
probably there's some basis in reality somewhere."
Wahl likes to tell the story behind the Lady of the Lake.
"That one kind of goes back to a Professor Clark. He got
involved in a deal of some sort selling stocks and bonds
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for an oil exploration in Alaska and he asked a bunch of
folks in Columbus, including faculty, to invest," Wahl
says.
The venture failed, and when the professor returned to
campus, he was despondent because he felt he had let
down everyone who had invested with him.
"He ended up going to Dr. William Oxley Thompson and
saying, 'I don't feel good about myself and I feel like
taking my life.' Eventually, he went up on a hill to a
garden where Pomerene Hall is today, at 12th and Neil
avenues. He went there sometime before dawn, around
this time of year, and put a revolver to his head.
"A student who went to gather vegetables found him.
The Lady of the Lake story comes from his wife asking
the University to help her husband," Wahl says. "She
was very bitter and vowed to never let the University
rest. Shortly after her death in the 1920s, students
started noticing in the early morning a woman in an
antebellum outfit floating across the lake."
Wahl suggests watching for her from the north side of
the lake, looking toward Pomerene. "I think around 1980
was the last real sighting students had," he says.
Greetings and footsteps
The Lady of the Lake may not have been spotted for
several years now, but staff who work in Pomerene Hall
today have several stories to share of unusual
occurrences.
Ann Yurcisin, director of the Office of Disability Services,
which is housed in Pomerene, attests to a "presence" in
the building. She and her colleagues good-naturedly
share their work space with a ghost known as the Pink
Lady- who may or may not be the same woman who
glides across the lake.
"I've been told that the Pink Lady is a polter-tech-geist,"
Yurcisin says.
Her department uses computers with adaptive
technology for the visually impaired. The computers
have a human-like voice that reads aloud materials
scanned into them.
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' '
"There have been times when the equipment is entirely
turned off and no one is around and a person will walk
in and be greeted," Yurcisin says. "It will say 'Hello."'
She says the computers require several steps to turn
on, and although the equipment is programmed to read
material, it is not designed to speak greetings or other
phrases independent of a scanning.
The equipment has spoken to staff and students at
various times, Yurcisin says. "We wrote it off or fluffed it
off as just a couple of incidental things: just unexplained
and kind of fun. We think it's delightful. There is no eerie
or uncomfortable feeling at all."
Dorrie Wells, operations administrator for the School of
Physical Activity and Educational Services, says there
are mysterious footsteps that make their way through
Pomerene and a door that keeps unlocking itself
The footsteps have thus far gone unexplained. "This
happens throughout the building," she says. "We've
made numerous attempts to determine where they're
coming from. You can move to it, but there's never a
soul around."
The footsteps have been heard sometimes by graduate
students late at night, or by staff working on weekends.
"It's really kind of eerie," Wells says. "It's always
happened to me very early in the morning."
The door that unlocks itself is in an area with limited
access, Wells says. "You lock it and double-check
yourself and have someone else double-check, and we
still find it open."
She speculates that it may have something to do with
the building moving and settling, but doesn't rule out the
possibility of a ghostly touch. "I am open to the idea,"
she says.
The presidential curator
A former president has been known to visit the campus
building named after him. Hayes Hall, named for
President Rutherford B. Hayes, was completed in 1893,
the same year Hayes died.
"The story goes that early on in the history of the
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