THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31,2002
HAUNTED LAWRENCE
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 9
Zach Straus/Kansan
The fireplace in the Sigma Nu house is rumored to be the final resting place of the ashes of a former inhabitant named Virginia. Drew Brewer, Overland Park junior, said Virginia had killed herself in the upstairs ballroom when the Sigma Nu house was being used as the governor's mansion in the early 1900s. Residents, Brewer said, have reported seeing and hearing doors slam randomly and other odd occurrences.
Spirits
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"If we do have a ghost here, they're not here to be scary," Monhollon said. "They're pretty well-behaved."
Spirits in their midst
A different set of haunting stories emanates from the Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence. Instead of mischievous spooks, stories about recently deceased students or faculty roaming the campus are prevalent.
"Some reports come from small children who describe a person who has been dead for several years," said Benny Smith, former director of counseling services on the Haskell campus.
Smith said the students at Haskell were more open to stories about spirits.
"It was about the love she had for her parents," Smith said.
"We have students from different cultural backgrounds." Smith said. "So there is a high degree of sensitivity to spiritual presence."
Smith told one story of a former student who died in a car accident. Weeks after the accidents, students were reporting a strange light coming from the deceased girl's former dorm room. When Smith went to search the room, he found a letter from the girl written to her parents. Smith couldn't explain where the letter came from.
Haunting campus
On the KU campus,a story of a ghost in the Sigma Nu fraternity house is well-
known throughout the KU community. A Sigma Nu Mother's Club letter from March 1976, on file at the Watkins Community Museum of History, suggests former governor Walter Roscoe Stubbs had a mistress who committed suicide on the third floor of the house. The letter goes on to suggest that her body was buried behind a fireplace in the house, and that she haunts the house.
But not as many people know about rumors of ghosts invading the floors of Corbin hall.
"South Corbin is really old and it makes a lot of funny noise," said Courtney Kaytis, desk assistant at Corbin. The Willimantic, Conn., senior said she encountered strange occurrences while making her security rounds. Kaytis said she often heard creaking noises in empty hallways and saw doors fly open for no reason.
Residents of south Corbin have mixed emotions about whether there are ghosts.
Norie McEwen, Topeka freshman, said she didn't believe ghosts inhabited her residence hall, but she had heard rumors.
"At first they said this used to be a mental place, but I don't really believe it," McEwen said.
Some residents are convinced otherwise.
Jessica Schuster, Topeka freshman, said she had heard strange noises.
"The first week, it sounded like furniture on the floor above us," Schuster said. "We went upstairs and everyone was asleep."
— Edited by Erin Ohm
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