By Rick E. Hale

 

 

A child heading off to college is a turning point in their young life. Its time to grow up a little and enjoy the freedom of not having a worrisome parent looking over their shoulder every five seconds. A kid in college has enough to worry about like keeping good grades and which frat house will they be drinking their asses off tonight. So the last thing on their minds is dealing with the dead.

 

Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois, is one the oldest in the state and possibly the most haunted. Originally the school was founded by the Presbyterians as a place to learn about God, but it later evolved into a liberal arts college. Rumor has it that every building on campus has a resident ghost.

 

Ellis Hall is said to be haunted by the sad specter of a young girl that killed herself. She is oftentimes heard sobbing and walking the halls. A faceless ghost, affectionately called the Gray ghost, is said to haunt the dorms of Whipple Hall. Others have witnessed the bloody apparition of a Confederate soldier in the shadows of Sturdevant Hall. And, lastly, phantom footsteps are regularly heard in the college’s oldest building, Beecher Hall.

 

I would have no problem sending my kid to Illinois College, but other parents I’m sure would not feel comfortable sending their kid to this place of higher learning.