By: Kate Keane | Staff Writer
The hairs that stand up on the back of your neck are warning you.
Wherever you look, invisible eyes are watching you.
That breeze you feel isn’t just from the ocean.
Salve Regina University is haunted. You always suspected it, but now you need to know how truly haunted it is.
Before Ochre Court was donated to the Sisters of Mercy and became the business and administration offices, the rich and powerful Goelet family owned the mansion. Ochre Court was their summer getaway. Ogden and Mary Goelet owned the house just marginally bigger than the Vanderbilt’s. Every summer, they packed up from their Manhattan mansion with their two children (one son and one daughter) and headed for their home upon the cliff. Twenty seven servants, eight coachmen and twelve gardeners filled the servants quarters and kept Ochre Court running. The family threw large balls, debutante events, and weddings on the estate.
When the Ochre Court was passed down to the Goele’ts only son, upkeep was a difficult feat. He ended up donating the building to the Sisters of Mercy, who founded Salve Regina. But have the Goelets really left Ochre Court? Or are they looming in the shadows protecting their once beloved family home?
Interviews with several different staff members of Salve Regina have revealed a plethora of paranormal experiences.
The Shaking Tables
A team of three waitstaff were setting up for a catered dinner in the grand dining room at Ochre Court. While the food was being prepared in the kitchen, two waitstaff put their finishing touches on the grand table. Table cloths were perfectly draped, napkins rolled, flatware and stemware precisely placed, and centerpieces stood proud. Before the guests arrived, one of the waitstaff decided to take a picture of the set up. Once she pulled out her camera, she reported that the table started to shake violently. The once-rolled napkins were shifting across the table and the plates collided with wine glasses. The two waitstaff looked at each other, terrified, but quickly went to work fixing the table before guests arrived. Once fixed, the same waiter pulled out her camera again and the table began violently shaking once more…
The Crucifix
According to an administrator who wishes to remain nameless, spirits haunt the second floor Ochre Court Offices. Weird feelings and general uneasiness manifest themselves between 5:45 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on a regular basis. However, one paranormal experience was more demonic than spooky. A wooden crucifix on her desk started violently shaking as if an earthquake was cast upon this one object. It continued shaking as she ran out of the office. Days later, at 5:45 p.m., she was answering emails when she heard something behind her. She turned around to find a filing cabinet drawer was slowly opening – but no one else was in the office. Terrified, she left for the night hoping to never encounter such spirits again. We are left to wonder, who is the spirit casting an evil shadow on her office and why are they reaching out?
Children Laughing and Crying, Voices and Cigars
Each evening at 4:00 p.m., the night safety and security crew clocks in to protect the Salve campus. Campus Security is responsible for checking every room of every building and locking all doors each night. No one gets in, no one gets out. But, safety and security has a rule: that you don’t dare enter certain buildings late at night – and Ochre Court is top of that list. Ochre Court is swept early, no one wants to enter it late at night.
One night after a catering event, the waitstaff were closing the kitchen. When one staffer entered the north stairwell, he was hit by the smell of cigars. But this wasn’t the first time someone has smelled cigars in the stairwell. A safety and security officer reported the same phenomenon while doing night rounds.
At 10:45 p.m. when a safety and security officer did his checks, he walked into Ochre Court and swept from the basement to the attic – checking every corner of every room. No students. No staff. No faculty. No soul was there but him. As he was leaving down the north stairwell, he started to get the same whiff of cigars that the wait staff had reported.
Odd, right?
Several nights later, he was assigned to check Ochre Court once more. At 10:45 p.m., he checked every inch of every room again. No soul was in the building – or so he thought…
Again, as he was coming down the north stairwell, he heard children laughing and crying from down the hallway. When he shared this story, a member of the wait staff that was in the interview room shuffled nervously. She also heard children laughing and crying, only, this time, in the basement near the boiler room…
Another safety and security officer shared a similar story. Likewise, she completed her rounds late – 10:45 p.m. The building was locked and quiet. Suddenly, she heard a man yell, “Hello!” She turns around and yells, “Who’s there?” Receiving no response, she checked the hallways and rooms again and found no one. Another phantom wanting to be heard.
Being hundreds of years old, there is a possibility that Salve Regina is haunted. But who are these ghosts and what is the purpose of their actions?
In the coming weeks, our reporting team will reveal more encounters with safety and security and stake out Ochre Court at night. Until then, don’t leave your dorms after nightfall. Lock all your windows and don’t peer too deep into the shadows. Happy Halloween Seahawks…
