Alma Matter Apparitions. The "Haunted" Abbot Hall.

Any Spartan that has spent any amount of time in Abbot Hall on MSU's campus (especially at night), knows that it doesn't feel like the most welcoming place to spend your time. I graduated in 1984 from MSU with a degree in anthropology, and my girlfriend (now wife) graduated the next year in '85. During our time at MSU, my wife lived in Abbot hall for two years, and needless to say, I also spent a lot of time roaming the halls of the old building. I remember having to accompany her everywhere around the building because she never felt "completely alone" while walking by herself. I'll have to admit that I also walked the halls with a sense of trepidation, especially in the basement. I've done a great amount of research into the hall itself, and have come across some unexplainable, (and rather disturbing) phenomenon.
First a little history from MSU's website:

Mason-Abbot Hall

The Old Abbot Hall, built in 1886 while Abbot was still teaching at the college, was as important as Abbot was in establishing the College as we know it today. The "Abbey" was originally a men's dormitory, but became the first women's dormitory in 1896. The dormitory housed the instruments for the practical education of “proper” women in that era. Sewing machines, kitchens, and areas to commiserate all marked the beginning of dormitory life for women at the Agricultural College. After more dormitories were built on campus and the coed living structure was introduced, the Abbey was a music practice building until it was torn down in 1967.

Russell Kirk wrote in the State News of old Abbot Hall, “... There is no more picturesque building than Abbot Hall, with its chimneys and ivy, surrounded by some of the most beautiful trees anywhere on the college grounds.”

Today there is a second Abbot Hall on MSU's campus. It very much paralleled the first Abbot Hall in its development. Built in 1938 as a men's dormitory, Abbot Hall is currently a co-ed dormitory.

In keeping in contact with a few friends of mine that found high positions within the administration at MSU, I have come to find out that Abbot hall has been the residence hall with the highest suicide rate on campus since it was built in the 1930's. The worst comes from 1976, when allegedly a young sophomore lured his freshman girlfriend into the oak room, slit her throat with a pocket knife, and then hung himself. They were found the next morning with the words "IM SORRY" scrawled on the wall in his late girlfriend's blood.

Contemporary residents of the hall have reported hearing a soft crying sound coming from unoccupied rooms, especially in the late night/early morning hours, as well as feeling drafts where drafts shouldn't exist, hearing footsteps coming from empty hallways and hearing disembodied voices following them, especially in the basement. It is said if one travels down to the oak room on the anniversary of the murder/suicide, one can see an incarnation of "IM SORRY" appear briefly on the west wall. Sadly, sources differ to the exact date of the occasion, and student rumour only adds to the confusion.

In the early 1990's it was rumoured that a group of especially curious students experimented with a ouija board in the early morning hours. There isn't a "reliable account" of what happened at that session, except to say that the resident assistants broke up the party before two long. Within the next week, two of the students in attendence were dead from hanging suicides, and another was in the hospital due to a drug overdose. She died later that month.

In the mid 1990's more reports of phenonmenon were reported, escalating in April 1996, when four students were found dead in that month. Two hangings, one overdose, and one female student was found lying in a pool of blood in the laundry facilities with slit wrists. MSU officials did their best to keep these deaths quiet, despite an outcry among students excited by rumors that circulated across campus. Lansing police investigated each of the suicides in turn, but ultimatly ruled each as such.

Many of these suicides had one thing in common: each either had no note, or only a very brief and non descript note to accompany the deceased. Some students speculated that the deceased were actually murdered, but after further investigation, authorites found no reason to reach that conclusion. Although the April '96 overdose was ruled a suicide, it is speculated that it may have indeed been accidental.  

The last time I visited MSU was in the spring of 2006, and Marie and I made sure to stop old Abbot during our reminicence tour. The desk clerk that I spoke with in the hall was a very nice young lady who described many of the same feelings that we had experienced 20 years prior during our tenure there. She confided that she had always felt nervous while doing her laundry in the building, and often traveled to her boyfriend's dorm for that very reason. I had to laugh, as Marie's eyes grew wide at hearing this, as she did exactly the same thing on frequent occasions.

--Chuck