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UC Berkeley’s Spooky Stories

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UC Berkeley chapter.

 

    For a school that has history dating back to 1868, you could expect a number of alarming, and creepy events to be kept hidden among the other secrets inside of UC Berkeley’s campus walls.  Here are a list of some of the oddest, most disturbing occurrences on and near campus to spook up your Halloween!

  1. The Claremont Hotel

    The Claremont Hotel holds multiple startling occurrences, including strange noises behind closed doors of empty rooms, ghost sightings, and even an almost murder.  At one point someone reported that a ghost had tried to smother them in their sleep.  It has also been reported that a guest had died in room 417, and while sleeping in the room next door you can hear lots of rucus throughout the night.  The hotel had also been a large home in the 1800’s before it burned to the ground.  It’s rumored to still smell as though it’s burning.  

 

2. Sather Tower

        Two suicides occurred off the observation deck in a span 4 years, which causes the campus to install the anti-suicide bars which are now in place today.  The ghost of a (in 1961) 19 year old sophomore is said to be haunting the tower to this day, and many photographers have tried to capture his ghostly figure.

3. The Faculty Club

        There have been two reported ghost occurrences in the faculty club.  One is of a deceased professor who had passed away in the room he resided in there, while the other was the captain of the 1920 football team who had died from pneumonia. The ghost of the professor has been seen sitting and reading around the Faculty Club, and it has been reported that students have heard him reciting poetry while they are walking past his window at night.   

    All haunting spooks aside, let’s make some way to some of the very real spooks for Halloween night.  I know that Halloween is on a weeknight, but that doesn’t mean that there will not be parties.  Just know your limits, and please think about making sure that you will be home the next day.  Your family and friends want you to party safely, and want you to get home after a fun night, and not a deadly one.  That being said, I hope everyone has a spook-tacular Halloween, and dresses up as something scary.  

UC Berkeley class of 2021. My heart is in the mountains, and with any corgi I see. I'm interested in writing, yoga, running, hiking, boxing, playing piano, music, adventures, and studying psychology and anthropology.
Melody A. Chang

UC Berkeley '19

As a senior undergraduate, I seek out all opportunities that expand my horizons, with the aim of developing professionally and deepening my vision of how I can positively impact the world around me. While most of my career aims revolve around healthcare and medicine, I enjoy producing content that is informative, engaging, and motivating.  In the past few years, I have immersed myself in the health field through working at a private surgical clinic, refining my skills as a research assistant in both wet-lab and clinical settings, shadowing surgeons in a hospital abroad, serving different communities with health-oriented nonprofits, and currently, exploring the pharmaceutical industry through an internship in clinical operations.  Career goals aside, I place my whole mind and soul in everything that I pursue whether that be interacting with patients in hospice, consistently improving in fitness PR’s, tutoring children in piano, or engaging my creativity through the arts. Given all the individuals that I have yet to learn from and all the opportunities that I have yet to encounter in this journey, I recognize that I have much room and capacity for growth. Her Campus is a platform that challenges me to consistently engage with my community and to simultaneously cultivate self-expression.