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For at least three
decades rumors have been spreading about a “ghost” named Lily who allegedly fell
to her death by stepping into an elevator shaft in one of the residence halls.
The “mysterious myth” has evoked
several residents to claim encounters of typical unaccounted sights, sounds,
sensations and doors locking and unlocking.
One of the common but less
traditional stories is that of a housing employee. She said “Lily” appeared
looking at the television; on the news was a story of a child who died of a
sinus infection on the heart. So, she brought her son to the doctor and he had
the same illness and it would have killed him if he had not been treated.
Some residents say “Lily” is a good
ghost; she wakes students when their alarms fail
to do so and finds what they lose. Other students are scared by the thought of
a ghost coexisting in
their halls. Then, there are those like Dean Edward Pratt, of student affairs,
who say “That’s
funny” with a laugh.
Pratt said he first learned about the
stories in the 1970s but said he thinks they
started earlier
despite the nonexistent records or evidence of such an accident occurring.
“It’s entertaining every Halloween,”
Pratt said. “We have our tales and fables they keep telling year after year.”
Pratt verified with another source
that the “elevator” was merely a manual rope pulley used to move equipment.
Pratt assured “There’s no ghost
because there was no death.”
The Vermilion, University of Louisiana at Lafayette's
student newspaper |