Bona's ventures into the unknown
Bonaventure community members share their stories about Francis Hall
Ruthie Harper
Issue date: 10/24/08 Section: Features
When campus ghost stories at St. Bonaventure come into conversation, minds usually turn toward Devereux Hall, but Francis Hall is not without its supernatural happenings.
Senior computer science major Laura L'Esperance lived in Francis Hall for about a month her junior year before moving to Devereux Hall, where she lives this semester.
"Francis and Dev are both supposed to be haunted, but I've never had any problem in Dev," L'Esperance said. "I've been to the fifth floor in Dev, too. It was kind of disappointing. Francis, from the beginning, kind of gave me the creeps."
L'Esperance said she used to avoid Francis as much as possible, and she isn't the only one who doesn't like the feeling she gets there.
"To me, it's a very spooky building," said Judy Barton, a housekeeper in Robinson Hall who worked in Francis Hall during the summer. "Even before that experience I didn't like it. I was always uneasy in that building. I just don't like it."
Barton's "experience" occurred on the second floor of Francis Hall last summer. She went down the hallway, and a man was standing by the stairwell, so she said hello to him but felt a little strange.
"What struck me funny was his clothing," Barton said. "He was a young guy, and he had this shirt on that reminded me of something we used to wear back in the 60s and the 70s, a yellowish plaid shirt."
She went in the bathroom, came back out and returned to the hallway where the other housekeepers were. She asked them if anyone had seen the man, and no one had.
"I had seen him come through the stairwell and go down the hallway out of the corner of my eye," Barton recalled. "I come back, and I ask the other girls, 'Did you see a guy come down here?' No one saw him. I thought 'Oh my God.'"
Barton said later a security guard told her other people had seen a man with the same clothing.
Jacob Fintak, a second-year graduate student and housekeeper, also saw a man in a plaid shirt during the summer when he worked on the second floor.
Senior computer science major Laura L'Esperance lived in Francis Hall for about a month her junior year before moving to Devereux Hall, where she lives this semester.
"Francis and Dev are both supposed to be haunted, but I've never had any problem in Dev," L'Esperance said. "I've been to the fifth floor in Dev, too. It was kind of disappointing. Francis, from the beginning, kind of gave me the creeps."
L'Esperance said she used to avoid Francis as much as possible, and she isn't the only one who doesn't like the feeling she gets there.
"To me, it's a very spooky building," said Judy Barton, a housekeeper in Robinson Hall who worked in Francis Hall during the summer. "Even before that experience I didn't like it. I was always uneasy in that building. I just don't like it."
Barton's "experience" occurred on the second floor of Francis Hall last summer. She went down the hallway, and a man was standing by the stairwell, so she said hello to him but felt a little strange.
"What struck me funny was his clothing," Barton said. "He was a young guy, and he had this shirt on that reminded me of something we used to wear back in the 60s and the 70s, a yellowish plaid shirt."
She went in the bathroom, came back out and returned to the hallway where the other housekeepers were. She asked them if anyone had seen the man, and no one had.
"I had seen him come through the stairwell and go down the hallway out of the corner of my eye," Barton recalled. "I come back, and I ask the other girls, 'Did you see a guy come down here?' No one saw him. I thought 'Oh my God.'"
Barton said later a security guard told her other people had seen a man with the same clothing.
Jacob Fintak, a second-year graduate student and housekeeper, also saw a man in a plaid shirt during the summer when he worked on the second floor.
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