Haunted Halls of Sutcliffe
Since its founding in 1819 Centre College has had a long and prolific history. Centre College has produced some of the brightest minds in the nation, while also being the site of some of the most influential historical events. Within its history, and perhaps even due to its history, Centre College has had a long-standing relationship with the paranormal. Paranormal experiences and ghost encounters have become a popular part of campus culture and Centre folklore. Almost every building on Centre’s campus has become the site to some varying degrees of paranormal activity experienced by students and faculty. Some buildings on campus have developed an infamous reputation amongst the Centre community for being exceptionally prone to strange encounters. Sutcliffe Hall has become the site of a plethora of paranormal experiences throughout Centre’s history. Countless students and staff members have experienced paranormal events in Sutcliffe Hall especially before its restoration in 2005.
President emeritus John Roush described such an experience that occurred to him during his tenure as Centre Colleges president from 1998-2020. President Roush described the old Sutcliffe building as a mysterious building that was in dire need of renovation as the poor lighting and beat-up interior contributed to the building’s eerie aurora. President Roush frequently worked out in the old weight room in Sutcliffe hall and due to his busy schedule, oftentimes these workouts occurred at night while he was the only one in the building. However, despite being the only person in the building, President Roush consistently felt as though someone else was in his presence. He states, “I think I just can't tell you how many times I left early. I got there, kind of about two-thirds of the way through my workout and I just had this really weird sense that I was not the only one in that room”. He continues by saying “And I saw some stuff down there, I experienced, let's say that, some stuff that would take my breath away every time”[i]. However, it was more than just an eerie feeling that President Roush was experiencing, it was fear. The kind of fear that fills your body with adrenaline and sends it into a state of fight or flight.
President Roush is not the only person who has experienced this fear in the halls of Sutcliffe. Ann Young, a student life director at Centre College has also experienced the paranormal in Sutcliffe. Ann describes days working in Sutcliffe alone when she would mysteriously hear the sound of basketballs bouncing. As she investigated the sound, she was only able to confirm that she was in fact alone and had no explanation for the bouncing basketball she was hearing. The story becomes even eerier when you consider that Donald Taylor, a general manager at the custodial department for Centre College also had a similar experience involving basketballs at Sutcliffe. One night when Donald was working on flooring in Sutcliffe when he and some coworkers noticed some lights flickering. As they went to go make sure someone didn't enter the building, they noticed a basketball rolling across the floor. In response, they searched the building to make sure no one was there and once they ensured the building was empty, they went to their cars to leave the facility. However, when they reached their cars, they noticed the lights flickering again. This prompted them to return to the building only to find another basketball rolling across the floor. Donald also had an eerie experience in the racquetball courts one day when he distinctly heard someone playing in the courts. When he went to go check on the player, he only found an empty dark racquetball court with a cold transformer, indicating that the lights were never turned on, and a single racquetball rolling across the floor.
So, who or what can explain these experiences in Sutcliffe hall? Is there a logical explanation for these stories? Or has Sutcliffe become the home of an entity, or entities, left to wander in a world that we cannot explain? Who might remain in Sutcliffe hall? One popular belief is that the entity that haunts Sutcliffe hall is a former trainer who committed suicide in one of the locker rooms in the 1980s. Oddly enough, there are no records of whom this former trainer may be and if this story of suicide is true or not. Despite that, this story, and the possible explanation for the seemingly malicious spirit that haunts Sutcliffe is the most popular story among the Centre community. Another possible spirit that roams the halls of Sutcliffe is that of a girl who was a former student at Centre. Unfortunately, this girl suffered from a heart condition that caused her death in the ballroom of Sutcliffe sometime in the seventies or early eighties. These are the two most popular stories associated with the haunting of Sutcliffe hall; however, Sutcliffe could very well be occupied by one or both of these spirits and many more that we are less aware of. Sutcliffe could be haunted by hundreds of spirits and memories. With the exception of Crounse, Sutcliffe could very well be one of the most historic halls on campus. Decades worth of history, hundreds of student-athletes, years of jubilant victories and crushing defeats, and incredible amounts of athletic achievement are all recorded and stored in Sutcliffe Hall. What or who is haunting the halls of Sutcliffe may be much more complicated than simply the death of one or two people. What is haunting Sutcliffe could be the generations of memories, stories, and emotions experienced by the student-athletes that will forever live within the walls of Sutcliffe Hall.
“What is it to live in a world with possible, then you have to acknowledge that things you cannot understand, can be real. I can't understand paranormal behavior. But I have a sense that it might be real.” [ii]This quote by President Roush provides an excellent perspective on which we may view Sutcliffe Hall. There has been a plethora of unexplainable experiences in Sutcliffe Hall and they are far too complicated to simply label as true or untrue. Instead of dissecting these experiences in an effort to discover some form of truth, we should accept the fact that truth in the paranormal world is not possible. We must acknowledge the possibility of Sutcliffe Hall being haunted without the constant pursuit of understanding. This is much more peaceful when you consider that the word “haunting” does not need to carry the negative connotations that we have associated it with. President Roush advocates for an association based on acceptance rather than fear. He states, “Haunted, that word has a kind of a negative tone, how about spirit-filled? I am... I’m more comfortable with that definition that we may have some spirits among us that are still here, able to communicate in ways, unlike the way we do but communicate nonetheless, and I'm okay with that. And I would have been okay with it when I was ten, when I was your age at about twenty, and also all my life. I just... I don't find that to be a frightening thing. I just don't fully understand it. But there is lots of things I don't fully understand, and I think people should have some fun with it. And if they're real serious about it, that's okay, that's their choice. I tend to be more around the business of enjoying the prospect of there being some folks among us not to be seen or heard, but here, nonetheless. So, who's to say?”[iii] Whether the spirits that roam Sutcliffe hall are real or not is irrelevant. The Centre community has made them real, and they will continue to live in the stories we tell and the experiences we live. They have become a part of Centre’s; culture, community, and history in a form that is just as legitimate as other prominent figures in Centre’s history that we tell stories about. The spirits that roam Sutcliffe Hall become more and more real with every story we tell of them, with every curious mind that looks for them, and with every experience that sends a shiver down our spines.
-Mark Kaczocha
Bibliography
- Kaczocha, Mark, and John Roush. Oral History Interview. Transcript. All Oral History Transcripts HIS 470 CT 2021, 2021.
- Hodges, Ben, and Donald Taylor. Oral History Interview. Transcript. All Oral History Transcripts HIS 470 CT 2021, 2021.
- Malloy, Madison, and Ann Young. Oral History Interview. Transcript. All Oral History Transcripts HIS 470 CT 2021, 2021.
- Thomas, Charles A., “Sutcliffe Hall,” Centre College Digital Archives, accessed February 2, 2021, https://centre.omeka.net/items/show/1055
[i] Kaczocha, Mark, and John Roush. Oral History Interview. Transcript. All Oral History Transcripts HIS 470 CT 2021, 2021
[ii] Kaczocha, Mark, and John Roush. Oral History Interview. Transcript. All Oral History Transcripts HIS 470 CT 2021, 2021
[iii] Kaczocha, Mark, and John Roush. Oral History Interview. Transcript. All Oral History Transcripts HIS 470 CT 2021, 2021