College installs bars on Bullseye windows. (2018, April 19). The Kenyon Collegian. https://kenyoncollegian.com/news/2018/04/college-installs-bars-on-bullseye-windows/

 

 

Confusion Surrounds Sophomore’s Death. (1979, November 15). The Kenyon Collegian, page 1.

Death on the Tracks—Alumni Bulletin—Kenyon College. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2021, from http://bulletin-archive.kenyon.edu/x3615.html

 

 

Facts Point To Ghastly Crime Former Law Student Led ward Railroad Track Bound With Rope. (1905, November 1). Plain Dealer, page 1. 

 

 

Investigators Consider Theories and Questioins. (1979, November 15). The Kenyon Collegian, page 1.

Kenyon College. (2021). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kenyon_College&oldid=1017979821

 

 

Kenyon College Ghost Stories Archives—College Bound Advantage. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://collegeboundadvantage.com/tag/kenyon-college-ghost-stories/

 

 

Kenyon College’s ominous history still survives on campus. (2019, October 31). The Kenyon Collegian. https://kenyoncollegian.com/features/2019/10/kenyon-colleges-ominous-history-still-survives-on-campus/

 

 

Kenyon College—The Haunted Kenyon Tour. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2021, from http://bulletin-archive.kenyon.edu/x2521.html

 

 

Kenyon Collegian—November 15, 1979. (n.d.). 7.

 

 

McCutchion, J. T. (1912, November 7). Up-To-Date College Fraternity Initiation. St. Joseph News-Press, page 1.

 

 

Not Tied to Track: President of Kenyon College Derides Coroner’s Theory of Pierson’s Death. (1905, November 1). The Daily Times, page 1.

 

 

Pierson’s Death is a Mystery. (1905, November 1). Quad-City Times, page 1.

 

 

r/Kenyon—Is Kenyon Really Haunted? (n.d.). Reddit. Retrieved April 19, 2021, from https://www.reddit.com/r/Kenyon/comments/begdya/is_kenyon_really_haunted/

 

 

r/Paranormal—Haunted college. (n.d.). Reddit. Retrieved April 19, 2021, from https://www.reddit.com/r/Paranormal/comments/6g4soj/haunted_college/

 

 

Ruins Hide Bodies at Kenyon College: Hope Given Up for Six Missing in Fire. (1949, March 1). The Escanaba Daily Press, page 1.

 

 

Shutler, N. (2017, October 16). Opinion | My Haunted Dorm Room. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/15/opinion/haunted-college-halloween.html

 

 

Snapshot. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2021, from https://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/24742765/?terms=stuart%20pierson%20lunch%20basket&match=1

 

 

Top 10 Most Haunted Colleges in America. (2019, December 8). https://www.collegeconsensus.com/rankings/most-haunted-colleges/

 

 

Two Dead, Six Missing in Kenyon College Fire: Flame Destroy Historic Hall, Many Injured Escaping Blaze. (1949, February 28). The Logan Daily News, page 6.

 

 

Verdict Due Today: Stuart Pierson’s Death Will be Laid at Door of the D.K.E. (1905, November 11). Atloona Mirror, page 1.

 

 

            Hello, and welcome to another episode of Crimes & Witch-Demeanors, I’m your host Joshua Spellman.  On this podcast we tell tall tales as they’re traditionally told and then dive into historical and archival records in order to separate fact from fiction.

            Today’s episode is a suggestion from a listener, Lucas, who alerted me to his haunted alma mater: Kenyon College.  When he told me his college was haunted I was like “yeah okay it’s a haunted college” but I was shocked to find out just how haunted and how rich the real history of this college is.  It is a haunted college.  Sorry for doubting you.  There’s a reason Kenyon College always makes its way to the top of listicles touting America’s Most Haunted Colleges. 

 

Located in Gambier Ohio, Kenyon College was founded in 1824, which has given it ample time…197 years to be exact…to collect its fair share of ghosts. A fraternity initiation gone wrong, a destructive dormitory fire, an elevator shaft incident, a car crash, and a diving accident are just some of the misfortunes that plague this university’s past.  In fact, one of these tragedies nearly destroyed its reputation, causing enrollment to plummet, and just as the college recovered, another catastrophic event threatened its continuation once more.

 

            We’ll investigate all of these tales today, but first, let me tell you the – alleged – story of Kenyon College’s most infamous tragedy…that of poor Stewie Pierson.

 

 

 

 

October’s prickly night air licked the back of Stuart Pierson’s neck, goosepimples emerging from his skin like the cloaked figures surfacing from the shadows in woods around him.  If it were anyone else, they might be scared, but he knew who they were and they were the reason why he was there: he was a pledging the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and this was the beginning of his initiation.

 

The hooded figures glided silently into the clearing, forming a circle around Stuart and the other pledges.

 

They said nothing.  Simply stood in the dark, heads bowed, moving at a glacial pace towards the pledges.  One of the other boys made a shrill sound like a mouse.

 

Stuart’s looked at each cloaked figure in turn, knowing that beneath one of the dark robes was his father.  He strained his eyes to see through the murky haze of the night but he couldn’t make out a single face through the inky shadows cast by the figure’s large hoods; just the occasional puff of smoke as their warm breath met the cool autumn air.

 

Suddenly the figures stopped in unison, mere feet from the pledges, who were now shaking.  Even Stuart could feel his body hum.  He told himself it was because he was cold, and not the spindly fingers of dread wrapping around his soul.

 

Without warning the f