Several strange occurrences in Walter Hall have led some to speculate there are more ghosts present at Pacific University then just the infamous Vera.
This reporter along with fellow Index reporter Kathleen Rohde went on an expedition to find the truth of the ghost that may haunt Walter.
Sophomore Ally Shakelford, who inhabited Walter 302 last year, recounted several times where she felt another presence while in that room.
She said one such occurrence was when she had a frame of herself and then-boyfriend propped on a shelf and one night out of the blue the picture fell and the glass cracked in between their faces.
Another occurrence that frightened her was when “one night my roommate’s alarm clock was flashing and it wouldn’t work right. It would flash things like 17:05 and other times really quickly that were way off so we took it out of our room because it was freaking us out,” said Shakelford.
Residents of that room this year were surprised to hear that their room was previously “haunted,” and became apprehensive upon hearing the news.
Although they have not yet experienced any paranormal activity, freshman Ashley Chitwood of Walter 302 did say that she heard “someone eating an apple in the third floor girls’ bathroom.” She said however, that no one was in the room at the time she heard the mysterious apple munching sounds.
Although there were no paranormal incidents in Walter 302, another occurrence was reported by freshman Jordan Graves, who lived in Walter 334 the beginning of this year. According to him, a ghost does exist and his room was indeed haunted.
“The door messed with me the most,” said Graves. “The creepiest thing was that I would leave my room and it’d be locked and shut early in the morning and late at night.”
Graves said sometimes him and his roommate would prop the door open and it would still move or shut on its own.
“I couldn’t tell you why that would happen. You could blame the wind, but I don’t know, the windows were only half-cracked,” he said.
Graves said he heard from his floor mates at the time that a girl had hung herself in his room. However, this rumor has been neither proved or disproved according to research.
Things really got strange for Grave when he heard about the words written on the third floor fire escape landing outside his room.
“I had been joking about the ghost before I saw that,” he said.
Written on the brick wall in chalk outside the fire escape are phrases such as: “I just want people to understand me” and “I just want to be human.”
Etched into the brick wall itself is the word “flames” and a footprint is imprinted into the cement wall.
Are these the words of a spirit from beyond the grave or just an angsty teenager trying to express themself? Again, the truth could not be uncovered.
Graves ended up moving out of his room in September after experiencing one too many ghostly occurrences.
“I think about it whenever I go back there,” said Grave. “I’ve paired Walter with my image of that ghost.”
Although the truth was not uncovered as to who or what is potentially haunting Walter, evidence from first-hand accounts coupled with mysterious writings on the third floor fire escape could point to an existing spirit in Walter Hall.
As we finish this story, the calendar that has hung solidly in the Pacific Index Office in the basement of Walter Hall has just toppled over without warning. Coincidence? We think not.
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