Columnist Bri Shaniuk recounts residents' stories of strange things happening in Crawford Hall.
Ohio University’s past stories involving death and tragedy, claimed to be caused by both supernatural and natural occurrences, are well known on campus. Though some of those happenings took place many years ago, others are quite recent.
On April 11, 1993, Laura Bansek, an OU student at the time, was sitting on her fourth floor windowsill in Crawford Hall on South Green when she suddenly fell backward out of her window. Due to the unexpected, fairly high fall, Bansek, unfortunately lost her life that day.
Though it has been speculated in the past that her death was a result of suicide, there is not enough evidence to support that claim.
The following year, residents of Crawford Hall began experiencing very strange issues in their dorm rooms. On multiple accounts, students reported encountering lights turning on and off without any assistance, as well as objects disappearing from where they had originally been placed, only to reappear later on.
Unfortunately for the students residing there, those few, small incidents were not the end of the hall’s strange occurrences.
One evening later that spring, a resident was getting ready for bed and decided to leave his dorm room door cracked open, as he knew his roommate would be returning soon. Thinking nothing of the matter, the resident began to fall asleep.
Not long after, however, he was unexpectedly awoken from his sleep by the door opening on its own, causing the light from the hallway to seep into his living space.
When he looked up in confusion as to why he was awoken so suddenly, he noticed the contour of a woman standing in his doorway. As he watched her, she proceeded to sit down next to him on his bed and apologized aloud for waking him.
Not completely sure of what was going on, the resident tried reassuring the woman that it was OK that she had woken him up, but she would not listen. A few moments later, the woman got up and left the room, shutting the door behind her.
The resident was skeptical of the entire occurrence, and he went to go speak with an RA.
When he described the woman to the RA, including her appearance and the clothes she was wearing, the RA instantly grew anxious, as she knew that her room marked the very spot where Bansek had fallen out of her window the year prior.
Though it is not entirely clear what the resident experienced that night, the incident itself is notable and has become a common story inside the walls of Crawford Hall.
Bri Shaniuk is a freshman studying journalism. Have you heard about strange things happening in Crawford? Email her at bs714714@ohio.edu.
