Special Edition Fall 2021: Ghosts of Catherine's Past

An exploration of St. Kate’s hauntings

Through the years at St. Kate’s, there have always been students and faculty who stay on campus longer than others… perhaps even beyond the grave. St. Catherine University is a school riddled with ghost stories, from Whitby to St. Mary’s. How true are the rumors that the living aren’t the only ones in attendance?

With gothic architecture and creeping ivy, St. Kate’s campus looks straight out of a ghost story. It’s easy to imagine phantoms and shadows lurking around the corners at night. Is this why there are so many different reported hauntings in different buildings? Most colleges can boast one or two haunted sites at most— almost every St. Catherine building has rumors and stories of the paranormal. The unique sites the campus has to offer certainly feed these rumors. Under students’ lay a sprawling labyrinth of tunnels, crisscrossing the whole campus. These tunnels, filled with pipes and wires, excite the imagination with the possibility of what could lie unseen.

Above ground lies Fontbonne Hall. It’s peculiar and asymmetrical design has been the bane of many students’ existence while in attendance. The strange building has long been accredited to the legend of the two nuns. Quarreling nuns both assigned to design the building by Sister Antonia simply couldn’t agree on how it should be done, so Sister Antonia drew a line down the middle and gave each a half. Fontbonne has more secrets than the worst floor plan in history, however. Originally used as an athletic building, Fontbonne’s full pool has since been built over and disappeared into obscurity, leaving only traces of its presence. Other accounts report floating green lights in Fontbonne’s towers. Architects throughout history have often used winding or ineffective floor plans to try and confuse and trap spirits within a construction project. Could this tradition have something to do with Fontbonne’s design?

Whitby Hall is definitely easier to navigate, but comes with its own share of ghouls. Nursing students report a haunted staircase, while others whisper about shadow people. Whitby has by far the most visual encounters on campus, but hosts its own auditory frights. Students have reported hearing phantom piano playing, as well as large bangs reminiscent of furniture being thrown, even when nobody else should have been in the building.

However, the most haunted spot on campus isn’t Fontbonne or Whitby. It’s not the chapel, where enormous chandeliers vanished with no record of their removal. St. Mary’s second floor has by far the most reported paranormal activity— and is unfortunately where I, with my fear of ghosts, am currently living.

The rumors about St. Mary’s are long running, but strangely consistent over the years. Students report being tapped and poked just before their alarms wake them up, with nobody else in the room. Others report a cold hand grabbing the back of their necks. Running sounds are heard in abandoned hallways. There are even some reports of screaming and stall doors banging in the bathroom— though these encounters seem a little more grounded in reality when you learn they happen during finals season.

The few visual sightings seem to match these other encounters, as students see female phantoms or ‘gray ladies’ in the building. A gray lady is a term for a female ghost, usually characterized by misty appearances or long dresses. The St. Mary’s hauntings would seem in line with a gray lady, as they’re largely unharmful, simply unsettling. However, gray ladies are usually assumed to have died violently for love or pined away for loss of it. Why would a gray lady be here? Who—or what—is haunting St. Mary’s?

To find out just what the current (living) students think about our paranormal rumors, we had to take to the streets and get some opinions.

Do you believe in ghosts?

Leah K. ‘25 (Communication Studies): Hmm… yes. I believe in ghosts because people have talked about seeing them. I personally have no experience with ghosts.

Emma D. ‘24 (Education): Yeah, I grew up on Ghost Hunters which got me interested in it, and I’ve seen a lot of convincing evidence that they’re real. I just don’t think they’re always the kind of Hollywood movie ghosts people expect.

Hailey P. ‘24 B(iology): Kind of? Logically speaking, they probably don’t exist, but I swear I saw the ghost of my dead dog when I was a kid. It was also like 3 AM at the time, but that’s not important.

Sarah M. ‘25 (Education): No. [Care to elaborate?] No.

Jennifer G. ‘25 (Undecided): No. I’ll elaborate though. I feel like there’s definitely, like, spirits or something, but not ghosts.

Rachel S. ‘25 (Economics): Um… I guess so. I think there are things beyond our understanding, I don’t know if ghosts are necessarily the right answer.

Do you think St. Kate’s is haunted?

Leah K.: Mmhm. Yeah.

Emma D.: I think it’s definitely possible to have paranormal activity in any old buildings or areas, especially ones with a lot of history. So if there’s a lot of stories, yeah, I’d bet it might be worth investigating to see if the rumors are true.

Hailey P.: Well, the school’s old and has a literal secret tunnel system. Of course it’s haunted.

Sarah M.: Yes.

Jennifer G.: I think all Catholic institutions are haunted in some way.

Rachel S.: I hope so.

Would you date a ghost?

Leah K.: If it was a sexy lady ghost I would.

Emma D.: Yes, I would date a ghost, no, I will not elaborate.

Hailey P.: Oh, for sure. There’s something weirdly intimate about being haunted by someone.

Sarah M.: Yeah.

Jennifer G.: Of course.

Rachel S.: Would I date a ghost? No. But would I have a little romantic entanglement? Absolutely.

With this research, can we definitively say if St. Kate’s is haunted? We may never know for sure. But the legends that each generation of students pass down to the next can give us something more- a connection to those who came before us. Telling ghost stories is a part of university life, and it’s a way to think differently about our spaces. Are there gray ladies in St. Mary’s? Shadow piano players in Whitby? I only know one thing for sure: they better not come anywhere near me, or I will lose it.