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Ghost Stories
from the SCC campus
Stories, some true and others sworn by,
about the ghostly events at
St. Charles Community College (SCC)
since we moved to the present campus in 1982.
"Absence of proof is not
proof of absence."
—Carl Sagan
The SCC "ghosts" have been featured in several publications, including a whole chapter in the book Ghosts Along the Mississippi Haunted Odyssey II  |
* Stories * The "presence" on the third floor Flying papers in the TECH building * Theories *
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FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY!
Stories
Footsteps above the lab
One evening during our first semester occupying the newly built Science Wing of the ADM building, I heard footsteps on the roof above my office. I'd heard some ghost stories already, so I was intrigued by this phenomenon.
The footsteps seems to move down the wing, away from my office, so I followed them. They went down past the labs, then back toward the office, then all over the place. I seemed to be the only one in the wing (it was about 5pm and there were no classes at that time).
So I called up to President's office on the third floor to see if they could see anything. No one was there, so I tried one third-floor office after another. Finally, I made contact with Bill, the CFO of the college at the time, who assured me that he could see everything clearly on the roof of the science wing and that no one (yes, he'd double checked), no one, was on the roof. And, no, there wasn't any other thing up there that could be making this noise. And shouldn't I be going home to get some rest after a long, hard day in the classroom?
Was I hearing the creaking of the building as the sun went down the temperatures in the roof and ceiling were changing? Or was it something more mysterious . . . ?
The little boy
A number of individuals have reported being haunted by a little boy, who most often appears in nineteenth-century clothing and seems to be "about 9 years old." This boy appears in the ADM building and perhaps other locations. He seems to follow people around when they are alone (of course) and mostly at night (of course). I haven't heard whether he actually says or does anything in particular.
The "presence" on the third floor
The third floor of the ADM building is where the highest of the "higher-ups" used to have their office suites. This was before the palatial SSB was built. So I guess it was pretty scary up there for most of us underlings, anyway. But a lot of spooky things happened up there besides the expected ones, too, apparently. Some folks have reported being "followed" by a "presence" when alone on the third floor. For example, some have reported walking down the hall with someone following them, but when the person turns, no one is there. Apparently, this presence has also touched some of the people who have experienced this phenomenon.
This presence has also slammed doors and moved objects—all with no one other than the witness(es) present.
Additional, independent reports tell of "voices of groups" heard "conversing loudly nearby"—as if coming from the next room—when there are no people conversing elsewhere on the third floor or below. Radios and other common explanations have been ruled out. These sounds seems to occur more frequently in the late fall and early winter. Are these perhaps ghostly holiday parties?
Footprints in the library
A number of years ago, a housekeeper was alone in the building at at time when it was locked to the public entry (a weekend, I think). After cleaning everything in the ground floor reference area, a commotion was heard in the bathrooms behind the reference desk, but inspection revealed that no one was there. Then muddy footprints were seen on the carpeting of the main reference area—but starting in the middle of the floor. The housekeeper was spooked and called for another staffer to come to the building. When that person arrived, the footprints were gone. Hmmm.
In addition, voices have frequently been heard—even during daylight hours—in or near the hallway across from the former Teaching and Learning Center on the second floor.
Flying papers in the Technology Building (TECH)
Even the (slightly) newer buildings have been affected. Housekeepers (multiple witnesses) tell of an incident where several of them were working in the Technology Building when suddenly the ceiling tiles in several of the rooms started jumping up and down. Others were called (by walkie-talkie) from other buildings. By the time that they arrived, papers on the bulletin boards in the building were standing out from the wall, as if they were trying to fly away, rather than hanging down against the wall as usual. After about an hour, they stopped (like anyone was left in the building by then).
The TECH building, although one of our newer buildings, is rapidly building a reputation of being the most haunted—quickly overtaking the ADM building as "most haunted" on campus. (By the way, I completely discount the theory that this has anything to do with the fact that my portrait <among other "Teachers of the Year"> was moved from ADM to TECH when the TECH building opened.)
Additional hauntings include numerous "odd happenings" in TECH 214 (known to some as TECH's "haunted room") and at the entranceways (which apparently sometimes rapidly open and close on their own when no one is nearby and after they are locked).
Out of the flying pan . . . 
Over the years, the food service staff have noticed hauntings in the kitchen. Well, considering all the ghouls they display around Halloween time, it should be no wonder, right?
Apparently, when the staff has left the kitchen for brief periods pots, pans, and other items are moved out of their places. Often, this involves way too many items in too short a period (with too many likely suspects accounted for) for a mischievous person or persons to carry this out.
Theories
OK, for the purist, these are more like guesses or hypotheses rather than full-blown theories. If you have another to add, then send it to me!
Gradients
Oooh, that's a spooky word: gradients. WHAT does it mean?! Gradients are differences and here I'm using the term to refer mostly to temperature gradients. When materials of different temperatures (including masses of air of different temperatures) come into contact with one another, then very bizarre and unexpected things can happen.
For example, air currents of different temperatures that float into, through, and out of buildings have different densities. This can create odd visual effects such as mirages, distorted reflections of the person looking at them. Such currents can also create their own sounds or distortions of echoes from the person witnessing them (or machinery noise or other ambient noises).
Changing temperatures in building materials, especially around dusk and dawn (when many hauntings are reported to have occurred), can cause many creaks, and groans, and even "footstep" sounds.
This theory I first heard from famed science writer Dorion Sagan as an aside during a scientific workshop. I later questioned his writing partner (and mom) Lynn Margulis (the famous researcher and science theorist) about this, and she confirmed the plausibility of this theory for at least some of the "hauntings" that I described to her.
By the way, it is temperature gradients that are also responsible for tornadoes and hurricanes—so they certainly are powerful forces of nature capable of organized, discrete events.
Read more about gradients and how they might produce "ghosts" or "hauntings" in Into the Cool: Energy Flow, Thermodynamics, and Life
Indian burial ground
When the SCC campus was first built, Mid Rivers Mall Drive was also being constructed. The road project was halted temporarily when remains of Indian (indigenous American) occupation were found. Rumor has it that there is a native burial ground near this location.
It makes sense there would have been some sort of indigenous settlement at or near the campus location, given the fact that it lies at a large bend of the Dardenne River (as it was once called)—an important waterway for this region. The SCC campus is also conveniently located relative to other major waterways (Missouri and Mississippi Rivers) and major trails (such as the trail that later became known as the Boone's Lick Trail—or Boonslick Trail—now known as the Lewis & Clark Trail).
During the original construction of the SCC campus, college officials found numerous Indian artifacts on site. Many of these are apparently in the possession of the college presently. My understanding is that these are mostly arrowheads and pot shards. Note that beginning in 2003, our archeology students have found remains of such settlements north of the campus.
Some theorize that our campus activities disturb the rest of the ancients and therefore explain some of the hauntings.
Euro-settlers
A succession of farmers of European descent had apparently occupied the property at or around the SCC campus over the past century and a half—or longer.
Some theorize that tragic deaths or other restlessness in the lives (or deaths) of the families who lived near here somehow explain our current hauntings.
One story suggests that one family (but no seems to know which family) suffered tragic lives or deaths at or near this location about a hundred or so years ago.
European given names (withheld here out of respect for families who may have lived here) have been reported to have been called out by the SCC "ghosts" and thus are linked to the notion that our "ghosts" have a link to persons of European descent..
One student who grew up on adjacent property tells of the mythic stories of former slave settlements on this property—presumably the slave quarters of a small plantation. These stories apparently circulated a few decades ago to explain hauntings experienced on the property. Apparently, the "unrest" and "agitation" of the horrors experienced by the slaves are thought to be linked to current unexplained phenomena.
Some sources report that before the college was built, there was a small cemetery on the property, much like the many small, family cemeteries that dot our county. One source claims that this cemetery was on the site of the current Technology Building—or very near it.
What do I think?
I'm convinced that all of the hauntings experienced on our campus can ultimately be explained by natural phenomena and coincidences.
I would not completely rule out the occasional joke/hoax, but this certainly would not explain ALL of the reported hauntings.
But I haven't experienced most of them myself—and apparently NOBODY has made any kind of careful recording of any of them. Even in this age of ubiquitous cell phone cameras!
So I guess you should believe whatever it is you believe, eh?
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