Haunted USJ Part I: The Eerie Dorm Attics

Written by Crista Fiala

Whether you are a skeptic or believer in ghosts, many USJ residents may leave you wondering, “What is going on in our dorms?” Some of the oldest dorms on our campus, built in the 1950s and 60s, are Assumption, Madonna, McAuley, and Rosary Hall. If you ask someone living in one of these dorms if they have any “paranormal” stories, many will tell you about unexplainable noises coming from the upper floors at night. 

During the month of October, the USJ News Nest plans to publish a series of articles about the USJ community’s supernatural experiences on campus. If you still have stories to tell or want to respond to any of the stories shared in this article, it is not too late! Feel free to email me, Crista Fiala, at [email protected].  

In response to the call for stories, current student Genia Clarke (Class of 2025) recalls her time so far in the dorms:  

“I lived in McAuley during my freshman year. Nothing strange ever really happened, and I was pretty okay with it. Then, I moved into the first floor of Madonna and for months, after around 8 p.m. or so, I would hear something rolling across the floor upstairs. It sounded like beads or marbles. Every time, I thought it was just something weird my upstairs neighbors were doing. I even once confronted them about it and didn’t notice anything again, even though they denied doing anything. I later moved rooms in the building and never heard the noises again. The worst I had ever heard since that point was from a resident on the third floor complaining that someone would bang on her door, but then no one would be there and that she’d hear people running in the attic. 

Then, I moved in again this year but on the second floor. This year, the rolling noises started again, but they also came with scratching noises from the walls. Sometimes I hear scratching across the floor upstairs even when my upstairs neighbors aren’t opening or closing their doors.” 

Stories about something strange happening on the upper floors are not new. Alumna Joline Irizarry (Class of 2006) shares her dorm experiences: 

“The Attic of Assumption Hall. We used to sneak up there to smoke in the winter sometimes. There were a bunch of old desks and furniture up there. We found a teddy bear some student left up there, and we just left it alone. Yet, it kept being in different locations. It gave us all the creeps. So much so that what could have been a supremely awesome hangout spot wasn’t used very much or for very long since we couldn’t handle the freaky feelings up there. Lots of noises up there at night from multiple top floor hall mates. I don’t scare easily and don’t believe wholeheartedly in paranormal stuff, but I don’t count it out. Like an agnostic only for ghosts. Makes me wish I looked more deeply into the history of that building though. There was something unusually unsettling there for sure.” 

With the mysteriously moving teddy bear and the sound of rolling beads or marbles in mind, alumna Katie (Stans) Stack (Class of 2013) has a story that might provide us with some idea of what might be happening in these attics: 

“Freshman year, there was a ghost hunter that came to campus and said there was a little girl that roams the dorms, dropping beads to alert people she was there. He said she might have lived on the farmland before it became a school and died young. Didn’t put much stock into it until I was walking back to my dorm after a 2 a.m. study session, and I swear someone was outside with me.” 

In Sister Mary Annina Reeve’s 1954 dissertation titled “Phenology of the Vegetation of St. Joseph College Campus,” she explains how “The St. Joseph College Campus…consists of about 150 acres of land all under cultivation, with the exception of a very small south-western section of wooded swamp land. By the term ‘cultivation’ [it] is meant that the land has been used for farming and pasturage previous to the establishment of St. Joseph College in 1932.” As it seems, the ghost hunter was right about our campus’ farmland past. When put all together, these stories suggest that the ghost of this little girl might be the reason behind the noise of rolling marbles – perhaps really beads – coming from the attics at night. She might be in the dorms trying to make the current residents aware of her presence. Stack tells us, however, that she also felt someone outside with her one night at 2 a.m. If there are ghosts among us, are they not only confined to our dorm attics? Stay tuned for the next issue! 

Thank you to all the alumni and students who have shared their stories with the USJ News Nest.

Featured Image: Crista Fiala