It’s that time of year again where students go apple picking, dress up in costumes, and debate whether ENC is perhaps haunted. There are certain places on campus that are believed to be “haunted” by some outside source. One of these places is the “Prayer Room” which is located on the fourth floor of Munro.
Lis Moreau, the Director of Residential Life, said “Honestly, I haven’t heard of any haunting, I haven’t experienced anything. But in the back of my mind, I thought: if it’s haunted and Bertha’s presence were to be here, I actually found it kind of comforting. If Bertha is haunting this place, then good because she’s cool.”
Bertha Munro was the first Dean of Eastern Nazarene College. She is highly regarded for her lengthy service and accomplishments here at ENC as well as her kind, compassionate character. Why might she be haunting the building named after her? We may never know.
The current residents of the fourth floor are the male graduate assistants. Are they scared to go to sleep at night?
Niki Ghosh is a current resident who says, “The prayer room is terrifying.” He elaborated by sharing some experiences he had when in the prayer room. “Things just started going bad, left and right. A phone fell from the closet and hit me in the head, my finger started bleeding for no apparent reason at all. I don’t know who haunts it for sure, but I’ve definitely seen some scary things up there.”
Another resident, Andrew “Bubba” Snodderly, shared the history of the prayer room, to his knowledge. “When I was a freshman, everyone always talked about the prayer room as the place where Bertha Munro had her funeral. Because in the old days, people used to have their funerals in the places they lived and Bertha lived on fourth Munro.” He thought “I ain’t trynna go in that room and see Bertha herself.” Snodderly has also had his fair share of spooky experiences on the fourth floor. He described suspicious behavior that occurred during the scare walk while he was a student as well as hearing whistling when no one was around. “I don’t think Bertha haunts it. Bertha was an angel on Earth and she is not on Earth anymore. She is in Heaven, I believe that. I don’t know who be up in Munro,” said Snodderly.
Dr. Linda Nease Scott is the current Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Both her father and grandfather were both presidents of ENC at one time. She attended ENC and has worked here for a long time as well. However, she said she has never heard of Munro being haunted before. “I would be a skeptic of the validity of the story, but it is kind of a fun story around Halloween!” said Scott.
Is Munro Hall really haunted or is this just a story that students have created throughout the years? Clearly, there are many opinions within this controversy. Make sure to check out the prayer room and be on the lookout if you see anything spooky!