Rumor Ranger: Haunted PLNU?

The thick fog consuming the morning hours and the chilly breeze sweeping the night sky are clear signs that spooky times are upon us here at Lomaland Drive.

As the chilly air gathers students together in preparation for the Halloween, rumors have spread that PLNU is a haunted campus, but is there truth to these chilling tales?

Though some seem to argue the falsity of this claim, including senior physics major, Andrew Ross, who claims “there is no such thing as haunted,” others have experienced first-hand supernatural events throughout campus.

Senior societal communication major, Allison Doig, says the rumors are mainly focused around Cabrillo Hall, the academic home for the Department of Communication and Theatre and the former home of Madame Tingley.

Prior to becoming the college campus, the San Diego Historical Society documented that the PLNU grounds were the home to the Theosophists, a theosophical community led by Madame Katherine Tingley. Tingley’s former home, now known as Cabrillo Hall, was designed for her to reside in the afterlife, where she believed she would reincarnate as a turtle.

Doig says that “The building itself is normally old and eccentric. I think because of the rumors, it might make students, including me, more paranoid of it being haunted. I have never seen anything crazy except for the occasional doors opening by themselves in my communication classes.”

Several of the strange events were documented by PLNU Alum David J. Schmidt (‘02) in his book Holy Ghosts: True Tales From A Haunted Christian College. Schmidt details first-hand accounts from students, staff and faculty about chilling experiences that occurred in Cabrillo Hall and others locations on campus.

Nicole Spadia, a sophomore applied health major, recalls, “Last year, when I lived in Hendricks Hall, my roommate’s chair would start rocking out of nowhere!”

With the collaboration of the first-hand experiences from Schmidt’s book, current student’s strange encounters and our school’s history, something supernatural may actually be going on at PLNU.

Though you may still be skeptical about whether these accounts are true, it is a very strong case that you must seek out for yourself…if you dare!