Is Bunce REALLY Haunted?

The good news is, there's no ghost in Bunce after all.

The bad news is, there may be five or six.

For decades, rumors have swirled around reports of paranormal activity in Bunce Hall, the original campus building on the south side of Route 322. Dr. Jerohn Savitz, the university's founding president, was uneasy about Bunce from the start.

"Most of the construction has been done in a half-hearted way," Savitz wrote in August 1923, the year Bunce opened. "The longer we use the building the more I am impressed with the feeling that the spirit of the people who did the work was not under proper supervision."

Spirit, indeed.

The old building, with its strange, steep ramps, sudden stairwells and long, hard hallways, seems to groan preternaturally, even during the day. Those who know Bunce best say her lights turn off and on by themselves, an eerie coldness shrouds visitors in halls and bathroom stalls, doors open when they should be shut and there are thuds, bumps, shadows and creaks that cannot be explained.

Unless, of course, they can.

"Bunce is haunted," said Rob Klimowski, 23, a senior technical theater major from Merchantville.

Klimowski said he's experienced far too many oddities at Bunce to dismiss them out of hand. In fact, he's had so many strange, some say spooky, experiences in the old Tohill Theater there that he's come to an odd peace with them.

"I've never felt in danger but it's definitely weird," Klimowski said. "One time I had to get something from the control booth and the door locked itself. Another time I was walking up to it and felt something grab my leg."

Working alone on a set one night his freshman year, he reached down for a screwgun only to hear it skitter away.
"It went stage left on its own," he said. "I turned away, heard a sound sliding toward me, and it was back."

Klimowski, like many Rowan theater majors, believes Tohill attracts spirits because theaters are centers of energy and not, as a rule, because they court evil.

He said as many as five or six spirits are believed to haunt Bunce and that, for the most part, they are benevolent.

One, a spirit some call "Liz," has been known to patronize productions from the upper back rows. They call her Liz for Elizabeth Tohill, the university's first drama teacher, but no one knows if the spirit is hers. Another, a stage-bound prankster believed responsible for incidents of lights flickering off and on mysteriously, seems bent on amusing late night technicians.

And then there is a darker, shadowy figure that some say haunts the third floor.

"That one's a bad energy," Klimowski said. "One urban legend is a janitor hung himself up there."

In fact, he said, some present and past theater majors think there may actually have been two hangings at Bunce. They think one resulted in a spirit that lurks about the Green Room, a section off stage where actors gather during shows.

Guiding a visitor to the room, Klimowski explained that a door to its bathroom tends to open at times even though its weight gives it a natural tendency to close.

"People will see it open and just get up and leave," he said. "I myself have seen a face in there."

Senior Erin Stewart said she can't help but believe.

"The lights go on and off for no reason," said Stewart, 20, a theater major from Lacey Township. "You can say it's because it's an old building but maybe it's not. Something interferes with the dimmers and we kid around that it's Liz."

Kevin Melendez, a junior theater major from West New York, said he's actually seen a g-g-g-ghost.

"I was working by myself at night when I looked up and saw a flash of light," said Melendez, 21. "It was like a sparkler, a quick zig-zag across the room and then it was gone. I just think it's part of the theater. Theaters are such centers of energy that, if there's something out there, they're just bound to be drawn to it."

Still, not all of Rowan's theater majors are convinced and they're certainly not all spooked.

"I haven't seen anything," said Shaheed Sabir, 21, a junior from Willingboro. "It would be nice if I did because then I'd have a nice story too. I think it gets in people's heads and just makes them mental. That's what I think."

So... who you gonna call?

As it turns out, there is someone to call, and they've investigated paranormal activity at Bunce.
South Jersey Ghost Research, a non-profit agency that's been "helping the haunted" since 1955, believes there may be reason to believe.

Sharon Carroll, a spokesperson for the group, said investigators using digital voice and data recorders found evidence of a haunting at Bunce in 2007.

"We found evidence throughout the auditorium," Carroll said. "There was activity in the control booth, around the entrance ramp, along the front row seating area and on the stage."

She said investigators got conclusive "EVPs" - electronic voice phenomena - and something tripped infrared motion sensors after they had been set and left for the night.

Still, while she's fairly certain paranormal activity exists in Bunce, she doesn't think there's necessarily reason for fear.

"A lot of times theaters and schools report paranormal activity," she said. "Our theory is that when people pass away their spirits often return to places that they enjoyed in life. I think it's comforting to know."

Associate professor of theater Tom Fusco said he's not exactly comforted by "confirmation" of ghosts in his place of business but not necessarily put off either.

"Sometimes, when I'm here late at night, I'll hear bumps and clanks but it could be a maintenance guy, for all I know," Fusco said. "Or it could be a student. Or it could be a ghost."