Ghost stories aren’t anything new for many of Connecticut College’s employees, faculty and staff who have been around a few years. In particular, Campus Safety has expressed an extensive repertoire for some of the odd occurrences over the years, leading to the belief of omniscient beings on site.
Last Wednesday October 28, Shamus Denniston, Campus Safety Officer, offered a small gathering in Plant House to discuss the numerous scary encounters he’s experienced over the course of the several years he’s worked at Connecticut College.
“Working in a space like a college,” Denniston commenced his narrative, “it always seems to have the presence of people and activity.”
This sensation carries on throughout the year and into the summer, even when most students return home for their break.
“A lot of times over the summer, Campus Safety officers will have to make trips into empty dorms to check up on things, and you’ll actually hear music playing, and it will creep you out,” Denniston reported.
“As far as Knowlton goes — never go there,” Denniston stated, to which students attending the evening gathering laughed.
“Once, I was sitting in the Knowlton common to watch some television, when all of a sudden, the double doors slammed shut at the exact same time.” Denniston then explained that he had proceeded to go and check whether it had been a fellow Campus Safety officer just trying to mess with him, “but it wasn’t. I booked it out of there.”
To Denniston’s great surprise as well, another recounting of the same circumstance occurred for Bryan Fratoni, another officer. “It was reassuring on the one hand to know that it wasn’t just me who was spooked,” Denniston said, explaining that nobody ever likes to come off as scared as a Campus Safety officer, “but then again, scary that both of us experienced the same thing.”
Furthermore, Denniston spoke of darting shadows on the second floor of Knowlton, as well as the ominous basement where doors slam and seemingly perfect wiring goes off every now and then for no explainable reason.
Being a bit curious of the history of Connecticut College, Denniston decided to look into the subject. He discovered that Williams Street is in fact one of the oldest turnpikes in the area, dating back to colonial times. The street once extended to the hallowed spot where Knowlton currently resides. Hanging gallows saw the final days of Olde Connecticut criminals and those accsed of witchcraft, as evidence by Gallows Lane just down the road from the Arboretum.
One other note Denniston mentioned for Knowlton was that in its earlier years, when it was all girls and “young women trained to be proper wives,” girls were often set up with Coast Guard Cadets, to which one student emitted a slight gag. Reports exist that at one point, multiple girls desired the same cadet, and when he denied them all, they hung themselves in Knowlton.
But enough about Knowlton. Freeman, Harkness and Windham are all known for occasional suspicious activity, and the occasional call to Campus Safety reporting voices and darting figures, particularly on the upper floors.
Two years ago, the Harkness housefellow even called into Campus Safety to report that on a regular basis, he would wake up in the morning with the drapes open and items seemingly reorganized without his knowledge.
To this comment, many students who were floor governors or student advisors and had arrived on campus earlier at one point had recalled a lot of abnormal activity when not all the students on campus had returned.
Now if you’re thinking you’re safe just because you don’t live in one of these more southern campus dorms, don’t rejoice quite yet. After all, you more than likely frequent another part of campus that gets just as much attention from the visitors as anyone living in the dorms might.
The Connecticut College events and catering staff, for example, who work behind the scenes in the Smith Dining Hall, have numerous recollections of scary events, from lights flickering at the mention of a cook who died from heart failure several years ago, to doors unwedging themselves before one’s eyes for no apparent reason.
Theater buffs might be forewarned of eerie activity in Tansill and Palmer, the latter being known for “Ruth,” a regular ghost.
Setting up for events is a common duty for catering workers, and one case in particular which occurred last spring in Tansill Theater, spooked Events and Catering Supervisor Heather Park and worker Patrick Adams.
“We were setting up for an event one time, “ Adams recounted, “when all of a sudden, Heather and I both started hearing a piano playing…almost like a Western style tune.” The pair brushed it off, until a short while later, “we heard the sound of footsteps shuffling along side us.” At that point, the two were scared out of their wits and made a dash for the exit.
Catering Production Specialist Marian Balestri and Lead Catering Assistan Rosemary Hecker-Sholley likewise acknowledged the presence of spirits on campus, who seem to make a presence every now and then.
“We’ve grown used to it,” Balestri said. “You just acknowledge them and continue about your business.” However, for Heather Park, it almost conflicted with her work.
“Heather used to work in Knowlton’s dining hall,” Balestri said. “But after about two weeks, she had to relocate it got so bad for her. It’s almost as though she attracts spirits.” Now, working in Smith, things are better, but the occasional paranormal activity is still common.
How about a pleasant stroll through the arboretum to take your mind off the creepiness that is our campus? Well, that’s probably haunted too. Reports of a woman screaming about three and a half years ago by students led four campus safety officers into the tree acreage.
“All of the officers admitted to hearing the sound of a woman calling for help, so we ventured in,” Denniston recalled at the Plant meeting. “We got to the pond and the sound seemed to come from the opposite side, so we split up in pairs and thought we could corner it at the other side.”
To their astonishment, however, as soon as they reached the other side, the voice seemed to trail return to the side whence they came, and the words, “Go away.” Nothing more was ever found, but it brought about fear amongst some of the college’s campus safety officers.
Just across from the arboretum rests Harkness Chapel, an especially known location for supernatural occurrences. Ranging from organ note playing, to periods where the basement will rumble all around, to spotting figures in the distance of the church and around the stained glass windows.
Established by Mary Harkness, a devout Catholic, many years ago, it seems that most of the strange happenings have transpired post removal of the cross steeple after it was replaced with a weather vane.
Shain Library, Warnshuis Health Center and Fanning have all spurred Campus Safety calls of suspicious activity over the years – once again, typically concerning slammed doors, voices, shadows and unrecognizable figures.
As Denniston laughed, “Either we aren’t doing our job as campus safety, or there are a lot of ghosts around here!”
One final place is the Plex: does anything lurk the hospital-like quarters, considering it’s much newer than the rest of the buildings on campus?
“Harris. Harris has a ghost,” Park of catering stated. “It’s a little girl who resides behind the ice cream box.” Many of the regular Harris dining staff have spotted her numerous times, and some are even able to draw her if asked.
Tennyson Jacob Wellman, visiting assistant professor of Religious Studies, was especially intrigued by this story. “Nobody really knows why a young girl would live in Harris,” as it’s typically assumed that a given place must be hold to have much history to it.
Wellman is currently teaching the Religious Studies 305 course entitled Vampires, Miracles, Ghosts, and God(s): The Supernatural in American Popular Culture.
“It was interesting to see that once our class started gaining familiarity with one another, students started sharing their intimate fears and suspicions of supernatural activity they had witnessed or overhead on campus,” Wellman noted.
Furthermore, Wellman spoke of the culture of Connecticut College, and how technically, it is represented by its students and faculty, “but a large part of it is all based on the staff who work and have almost a better grasp of the true nature of the school, and what goes on when everyone leaves.”
So where exactly do we go for here, with spirits apparently lurking everywhere?
“Well, for one thing, if you do ever feel uneasy, of course, just call a Campus Safety officer,” Denniston reassured. “By this point, we’re pretty used to the creepiness, so we’re always glad to happy to help others out.”
Denniston also raised the point that in the United States, to many, we are not very comfortable with the idea of spirits. “In Europe and Asia, however, spirits and ghosts are second nature, and old architecture is part of what makes history so great.”
For anyone truly inspired by the idea of ghost stories, Denniston suggested a website, where over 16,000 ghost story experiences have been shared, including investigations from the past twelve years.
As far as the possibility of hosting ghost tours on campus for future Halloweens? Denniston stated, “We’ll look into getting top hats, if we do.”
SUITE PICTURE!!