Ohio Wesleyan’s Hauntings of Stuyvesant Hall

Ohio Wesleyan University is known for the creepy ghost stories told by campus students for decades. One hotspot for paranormal activity since the 1930s is Stuyvesant Hall, also known as “Stuy.”

John Ciochetty, a former public safety officer at OWU, wrote a book, “The Ghosts of Stuyvesant Hall and Beyond: Volumes 1 and 2.”

Ciochetty believes OWU is one of the most haunted colleges in America. However, Stuyvesant Hall always stood out to him. His reports of paranormal activity have led many others to pinpoint the source of the unusual experiences of residents.

Stuyvesant Hall resident Kiley Wolf details her experiences as hard to explain.

“Over winter break when only about 10 people were in Stuy, I was going to start my laundry. When I opened my bedroom door, I realized it was unlocked which is unusual because I never leave my door unlocked overnight. Then, the main entrance door (next to the laundry room) was left open so anyone could have gotten into the building throughout the night.”

These small, but common occurrences in Stuyvesant Hall have made the students feel a mysterious sense of uneasiness.

Resident, Maddie Shumacher, also reported a strange occurrence in her dorm room.

“Over winter break I was laying in bed and around 1 a.m. my door to the hallway opened just a crack. It later shut, then opened again, then shut itself once again. I opened the door and nobody was in the hallway and the automatic lights were off.”

The strangest part of OWU’s paranormal past is the sealed dorm room on the first floor of Stuyvesant Hall. In the 1950s, screams, distress, and loud disturbances were heard from a young female student. The student transferred out of OWU, and the room is still sealed today.

“I’ve heard the sealed room is haunted and the person living there was experiencing paranormal activity. OWU’s president stayed in the room and told the building and grounds worker to seal the room because of what he experienced,” said Schumacher.

This account matches the first-hand experience detailed in Ciochetty’s book. The history of Stuyvesant’s paranormal past begins to validate the many strange occurrences.

Stuyvesant Hall hauntings have been experienced by residents for decades. As people continue to recount these unexplainable events, the paranormal history of OWU’s past continues to be a part of the campus’s culture.