Spirit of the Theater
College campus ghost stories serve a myriad of purposes, ranging from lessons of school history to simple enjoyment and community bonding. Although the ghosts belong to the campus, the community perpetuates their existence, deciding their significance. Each year replenishes the student body, leaving the school slightly different from when they arrived. Known mostly among music and drama students at Centre College, the Grant Hall theater ghost (Gus) resides in its basement, unknown to much of the student body. Despite this, people continue to blame Gus for electronic malfunctions and routinely place candy in the elevator he haunts. The Norton Center, built in 1973 and partially renovated in 1994, outlines the history of Gus, commentating on the lack of renovations in Grant Hall basement despite its occasional electrical difficulties (1). Theater ghosts are common, since performers can blame abrupt and often uncontrollable problems on them. On the surface, Gus reflects simply this trope. Many of those who actually know the lore of Gus have left the school, yet the name continues to crop up today. Gus does not then act as a story to be told or a lesson to be learned, rather as a representation of adaption and change in Centre’s long history, ever-expanding with incoming generations of theater students. Centre’s history as a haunted location relies on student and faculty involvement to add lore to previous rumors in order to perpetuate Centre College ties to a culture of community and student life in even minuscule manners as this. Gus reveals fluid adaption to new students with little traction on the past as the basis for his continuity, revealing intense comparisons to Centre as a school of 200 years, managing to adapt to new times without overly disgruntling their students and faculty from the alterations.
A first-year student, interested in engaging with the drama department in some capacity, begins working backstage, learning names and show-running operations. Before too long, they use the basement elevator to transport equipment, but not without hearing of Gus. “Everyone who works in the scene shop mentions Gus probably once or twice a shift,” usually told to first-years after technical, electrical malfunctions with the lights, doors, or equipment (2). Residing in the elevator, Gus either takes or places mints in the emergency fire hatch, that once contained a phone (3). Considered a friendly but mischievous ghost, it is uncommon for someone to believe themselves to be in danger when using the elevator or the electronic devices: “we will go up on [the elevator], and I won’t necessarily mention the ghost. It’s not a big part of my life” (4). Alum from 1990-94 Anna Goodman Hoover recounted stories of Gus involving primarily the elevator, with the doors opening or buttons pressed for no apparent reason.
Though the land space was the site of Danville High school until 1964 (Centre bought the building and subsequently demolished it in 1971), the origins of Gus seem to begin with an accident during construction of the Norton Center in 1973, where somebody fell into the open elevator shaft (5). The person survived, but a few years later, rumors spread that someone died, marking a logical starting point for Gus. Mark de Araujo, former Technical Director in the Norton Center, mentioned the elevator shaft incident and also thought someone died there until ten years after his hiring. Arriving on the scene in 1979, Mark first heard about Gus in the early 1980’s, a possible timeframe, though the origins of the name itself are uncertain. Gus grew to be blamed for elevator malfunction, a problem emphasized as Newlin Hall received renovations in the summer of 1994. Following this, people blamed any technical or electrical problems in the Grant Hall basement or Weisiger Theater (where drama students perform) on Gus, earning him the title “mischievous,” despite his rather dark beginnings. In 2011, with the advent of Sodexo as the Centre meal service, a former student named Keegan Andres inadvertently started a tradition of leaving candy in the emergency hatch. Although not initially intended to be for Gus, the candy continues to appear in the hatch, now under the canon that Gus eats the candy people leave behind. Unfortunately, records of when Cowan introduced mints are unavailable. They now serve as the primary candy found in the hatch. Gus demonstrates an adaptable lore, not bound by lasting tradition, but only by what happens to stick around over the years.
Culture influences oral narratives significantly. The changing nature of Gus mirrors his setting perfectly, the theater being a place of constant rebuilding and performing of the old and the new. Acknowledging the flexibility of the narrative reveals narrow changes between class years and departments. Theater professor Matthew Hallock, who arrived at Centre in 1997, stated that the ghost “was most notorious for leaving presents… a small piece of candy or a snack or a treat of some kind,” whereas a Senior music student, Grant Lyon, states that Gus is “hungry” and eats the candy instead (6). Even that which began only ten years ago finds ambiguity in how and why it happens. At this point, the origin story is entirely forgotten and Gus is now the common resident theater ghost. Knowing the lore does not show association with Centre or the drama department, only a very basic knowledge of what “Gus” means demonstrates connection to the school. With such a simple platform to recognize, Centre’s haunted history wants to existence for the students, not as a means of division or complexity. This simple narrative drives the point that Centre itself is adaptable and not above moving beyond the past to involve itself better in the present.
Ghost stories help incoming students to adapt to “the strangeness of their new surroundings while helping them participate in the history of the college” (7). Combining communal elements with the history of superstition of theater performers creates the perfect narrative for a ghost story, one that Centre grasps onto with Gus. The sturdy foundation of theater for superstition exists in various people, each of whom spend countless hours with one another, often late into the night. Traditions such as the ghost light, a light on stage that shines after hours so the ghosts can see, emphasize the prevalence of theater ghosts. Theaters commonly have at least one ghost, especially given the nature of plays like Macbeth. The name Macbeth denotes bad luck when said aloud and any wish of luck before a performance acts the same. This explains the home Gus found and the mints and elevator and light problems explain his perpetuation.
The ghost now known as Gus shows a truly remarkable path, dragging on the edge of the recently created and the timeless simultaneously. The long history of theater ghosts suggests it unlikely that it would take until the 1980’s for Centre, a now 200 year old school, to have a resident theater ghost. But in interpreting such instances as the 1973 construction and worker accident of the Norton Center, followed by the renovations of 1994 contrasting the broken lights and elevator next door indicate the pieces necessary for a good ghost story, especially boosted by the candy leaving tradition circa. 2011. Gus adds to a list of traditions at Centre College, each accepted by various organizations at the school. The continuation and adaptation of Centre ghost stories are a part of campus culture and a reminder that one belongs to a community. Favoring this adaptation over dedicated association with the past paints Centre as a place not bound by its past, for better or for worse. That a once small, all white-male liberal arts college continues to grow in land space, student population, and diversity, while simultaneously introducing a business major for future years shows that Centre, just like Gus, is willing and able to almost seamlessly change even the most fundamental aspects of its conception. The lack of stories surrounding the 2018 sit-in and Old Centre’s role as a Civil War hospital direct people away from such topics for a more controlled image. Most interesting will be the effects of the pandemic once new and old students find the elevator, perhaps allowing the traditions of Gus to adapt once again. Without messengers, stories disappear, eventually allowing new ghosts to arrive.
-Andrew Fehribach
Works Cited
Andres, Keegan. In an email to the author. January 29, 2021.
de Araujo, Mark. In conversation with the author. January 29, 2021.
Capps, Kyle. Blewett, Aidan. A Ghost in the Elevator: History 470. 04:00.
Centre College Website. “The Norton Center for the Arts.” https://www.centre.edu/norton-center/.
Clements, Jesse. Sheaffer, Ingrid. Smith, Jessica. “Charlie the Theater Ghost.” Birmingham Southern
College. https://www.bsc.edu/bsc-folklore/oral/theater-ghost.html.
Danville High School. “History of Danville High School.”
https://www.danvilleschools.net/1/Content2/150.
Fehribach, Andrew. Lyon, Grant. Oral History Interview on Ghosts at Centre College. 00:30, 15:00.
Fehribach, Joseph. In an email to the author. January 24th, 2021.
Ferrell, Naomi. Hallock, Matthew. Project Title: Oral History Interview. 02:09.
Hoover, Anna Goodman. In an email to the author. January 31st, 2021.
Endnotes
(1) Centre College Website. “The Norton Center for the Arts.” https://www.centre.edu/norton-center/.
(2) Capps, Kyle. Blewett, Aidan. A Ghost in the Elevator: History 470. 04:00.
(3) Ferrell, Naomi. Hallock, Matthew. Project Title: Oral History Interview. 02:09.
(4) Fehribach, Andrew. Lyon, Grant. Oral History Interview on Ghosts at Centre College. 15:00.
(5) Danville High School. “History of Danville High School.” https://www.danvilleschools.net/1/Content2/150.
(6) Fehribach, Andrew. Lyon, Grant. Oral History Interview on Ghosts at Centre College. 00:30.
(7) Clements, Jesse. Sheaffer, Ingrid. Smith, Jessica. “Charlie the Theater Ghost.” Birmingham Southern College. https://www.bsc.edu/bsc-folklore/oral/theater-ghost.html.