An exorcism of unruly, violent ghosts may have taken place 33 years ago at a spot on OU's campus that hundreds of students walk past every day.
On Sept. 24, 1973, The Oklahoman published a story entitled, "Haunters exorcised in Norman?" detailing the "exorcism" of spirits at 700 Elm Ave. -- now the Jim Thorpe Multicultural Center.
The article was about a student resident called "Jack" waking in the middle of the night with a choking sensation at his throat.
"I heard something like a gasp, then a voice said 'No,' then another gasp," "Jack" said in the story. "I was scared. I said 'Get out,' then I heard footsteps going away, and it was all over."
A psychic researcher and exorcist from Oklahoma City was contacted late that night. A ghost hunt ensued, turning up four male entities on the second floor, gravestones hidden in the basement and a little girl who said she was killed in an auto accident in 1938, according to the article.
After prayer and meditation, the psychic assured "Jack" the entities were gone and instructed him not to dwell on them.
Natalie Youngbull, psychology senior and Student Life employee, said the building in question was once used as the Delta Delta Delta sorority house after being built in the 1930s. OU then purchased the building in 1982, according to visit.ou.edu.
Youngbull said several student organizations, including the American Indian Student Association, now use the center for meetings. However, she said she had never heard of it being haunted.
Geri Evans, American Indian Leadership in School Administration staff assistant, now works on the second floor of the center five days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. She said she learned about the ghost stories in July.
"Some high school kids had read the story on the Internet," she said. "They came into the building one day and wanted to look around, so I gave them a tour. But we didn't find any gravestones in the basement."
Evans said she doesn't think anyone has lived in the building since the early 1980s, though she's been increasingly more suspicious of her workplace.
"I leave by five, but one of the graduate assistants was working up here kind of late one night, and there were strange noises," Evans said. "She said she heard heavy footsteps above her."
The story of the haunting at 700 Elm Ave. is one in a long list of myths and paranormal activity that have supposedly occurred around OU, many of them detailed in a 2001 The Daily story titled, "Myths Haunt the OU Campus."
One story is of a little boy wearing roller skates who was rushed to Ellison Hall (originally built in 1928 as an infirmary) after an asthma attack. The 8-year-old boy died with his skates on, prompting stories of his ghost skating Ellison's hallways some nights.
Another story has circulated over the years about a student who fell from the second floor of the Bizzell Memorial Library stacks to his death. The student's ghost allegedly now haunts the library floor.
Though longstanding rumors exist to carry on these tales, Tonya Hacker, founder of Ghost Haunts of Oklahoma and Urban Legends Investigation and co-author of the upcoming book "Eerie Oklahoma" said not every place reported to be haunted is actually haunted.
"I'm a skeptic, but I have an open mind. I have witnessed enough over the years to say 'Yes, I believe (in ghosts),' but I have also witnessed a lot of 'hysteria' in locations," she said. "If it looks haunted, it doesn't necessarily mean it's haunted."
Hacker, who has appeared as a ghost-hunting specialist on CNN and The Learning Channel's "America's Ghost Hunters," said GHOULI has been validating and debunking rumored haunts in Oklahoma for six years now, looking for "object moving" and collecting Electronic Voice Phenomena - radio frequencies that inadvertently find their way onto recorded tape, often in the form of a voice, in areas of high paranormal activity, according to Ghouli.com.
"Believe it or not, Oklahoma is full of history that can cause hauntings, dating back to statehood," Hacker said. "The stories are there; we seek ones that may be attached to crime scenes and actually can be validated through history. From cowboys to the Mafia, we are working on finding out why some areas in this state have so much activity."
Hacker said she's heard the story of 700 Elm Ave. and would love to visit the location.
Research for this type of evidence in the Norman area has just gotten underway in preparation for "Eerie Oklahoma," Hacker said. She and co-author Tammy Wilson have been hunting for as many tales and facts as possible. But so far, one location is brought up more than all the others.
"The most common haunting (in Norman) is the ghost at the Sooner Theatre," she said. "We have yet to investigate the location, but we are soon to start working on the historical research attached - to perhaps validate the rumors of ghosts and the strange events that have taken place there."
Unfortunately, Hacker said, there are "politics" involved in getting the access for an investigation at the Sooner Theatre, 101 E. Main Ave.
"It's such a shame," she said. "The Sooner has so much history; too bad the caretakers are not allowing us to learn more and share the history."
Katie Wyre, English senior and former employee of the Sooner Theatre said she had never heard of any paranormal happenings when she worked there in summer 2003, but isn't surprised to hear of such stories.
"I think theatres are predisposed to hauntings as sort of a general rule," she said. "The Sooner Theatre definitely has something historical and a little creepy about it. It's such a part of Norman's history that it would almost be a pity if it weren't haunted."hello there & you too
