news

PAGE 4 | WWW.OBUSIGNAL.COM Historic ghost stories haunt Ouachita’s campus

BY MADELINE MARTIN

Staff Writer

A black and white picture hangs on the wall past the alumni office in Cone-Bottoms. In the photo, students, faculty and staff gather on the front steps following the building’s completion in 1923. However, a closer look at the photo shows something eerie, drawing attention away from the smiling group on the lawn.

In one of the second story windows, a male figure is clearly visible. It is hazy, but it is there. However, everyone was outside taking part in the photo. No one knows who—or what—the figure is.

This is just one of many ghost stories told around campus. Urban legends are bound to be created by students and faculty, especially at a school with as much history as Ouachita. Upperclassmen pass on these legends to freshmen to enlighten them on campus trivia. While this is all in good fun, many students claim to have real experiences with the campus ghosts and many well-known buildings on campus serve as settings for these supernatural stories.

Cone-Bottoms houses a ghost besides the shadowy man in the photograph. The Lady in Black also calls this building home.

Built in 1923, Cone-Bottoms served as a female dormitory on Ouachita’s campus until the mid1980s. The building underwent renovation in 1993, and it has since housed the school’s administration offices.

The legend of the Lady in Black dates back to the late 1920s. A Ouachita girl named Jane dated a Henderson boy named Joshua, but things quickly turned sour. Joshua’s friends pressured him to break up with his Ouachita girlfriend, and he finally gave in and took another girl to the homecoming dance. Jane returned to her dorm in Cone-Bottoms, put on a black dress and veil and threw herself down the elevator shaft.

Now, her ghost haunts the building and roams the halls. It is said that she can be heard sobbing over her lost love.

Most people have not actually seen the infamous spirit, but many describe the feeling inside Cone-Bottoms as heavy and gloomy. This could be due to the building’s age, or maybe Jane actually haunts her former dorm. Either way, the story is a favorite among Ouachita faculty and students.

The Ouachita Theatre Department claims a different ghost haunts Verser Theatre. Aptly nicknamed the Verser Ghost, this spirit has been around for decades.

Earl E. Verser served on the Ouachita Board of Trustees for 12 years, and Ouachita named Verser Theatre in his honor following his $50,000 donation for the construction of the building. Verser was tragically murdered during a home invasion, and students and professors alike claim that his benevolent spirit now haunts his namesake theatre.

Students attribute strange happenings in the theatre to the Verser Ghost. If a light flickers or something goes missing, the Verser Ghost is usually to blame.

As part of theatre superstition, a ghost light sits on Verser’s stage.

Ghost lights are commonly used in theatres around the world. Typically, they are single-bulb floor lamps that sit onstage whenever the lights are off. Their purpose is to ward off ghosts and to keep them happy.

The theatre department keeps with this tradition, and the ghost light shines brightly in the dark theatre.

Aside from the tragic backstory and the superstitions, the Verser Ghost creates a way for the theatre students to bond. For every production, the ghost leaves mysterious, encouraging notes for every cast and crew member. This tradition has been happening for a long time.

Elizabeth Dawson, senior musical theatre major from Little Rock, helps the Verser Ghost this year by delivering the notes on the opening night of shows.

“The purpose of the ghost notes is to make everyone feel appreciated because everyone has an important job,” Dawson said. “When I was a freshman and I got my first ghost note, I was very encouraged. So I’m happy to help the Verser Ghost continue this tradition.”

Across the street from Verser Theatre, Francis-Crawford Hall contains its very own paranormal activity.

Built in the 1960s, the dormitory houses over 300 freshmen girls. Over the years, many students claim to have experienced ghostly encounters or inexplicable events within Francie’s walls.

Unlike the ghosts of Cone-Bottoms and Verser Theatre, the “Francie Ghost” does not have a detailed backstory. The ghost story gained popularity from various encounters told by the building’s residents. The Francie Ghost, despite not having a solid origin, still remains a common Ouachita legend.

Residents report hearing footsteps in their rooms, seeing shadowy figures at the foot of their beds and even getting grabbed by their ankles while sleeping.

While some of this could be attributed to loud neighbors or the age of the building, other things, like being touched by the Francie Ghost, are truly inexplicable.

Overall, these ghost stories bring some spooky fun to Ouachita’s campus and create community among students. These ghosts haunt campus buildings all year and serve as the perfect entertainment when Halloween rolls around.

NEWS

WWW.OBUSIGNAL.COM | PAGE 5 Third Floor Village ready to release debut EP

“Third Floor Village” band members pose for a photoshoot to promote their debut EP. Buck McKnight, Anderson Fulton and Parker Zucha have been working together for almost two years and are excited to release the EP. (photos by Abby Blankenship)

BY KENZIE BURKS

Staff Writer

The band Third Floor Village will be releasing their new extended play (EP), featuring six songs, on Nov. 5.

The band consists of lead guitarist Buck McKnight, co-lead singer and guitarist Parker Zucha and colead singer and keys player Anderson Fulton.

All three are juniors who met during their freshman year at Ouachita. They are also all members of the men’s social club Beta Beta, but they did not come up with the idea of forming a band until the beginning of their sophomore year. The three guys lived together on the third floor of Tollett Hall, and Fulton wanted to know why the trio was not making music together. McKnight and Zucha decided to give it a try, and the rest is history.

The three have been working on music together for almost two years now. But the “serious process,” as McKnight puts it, actually did not start until quarantine this summer.

Each song on the album tells a story about a breakup. The first five songs tell a similar story, each with different emotions, about moving on and being over a past relationship.

“There are different feels to every song,” Fulton said.

But the final song on the album contradicts the theme of the first five songs and was a chance for the band to be more vulnerable with their lyric choice. This last song speaks more to relationships that change people, leaving them with the feeling that they will never be the same again.

The majority of the songs on the EP were written last August, but there was one that was written during the recording process at the studio.

“While the songs were all written individually, I think they do, in order, tell a pretty great story,” McKnight said, “They do thematically intermingle with each other.”

The band did not want to highlight their past relationships in a negative way when writing their songs. They also did not want the album to come off like all they write or care about are girls from their past.

“We like to joke around and say we’re kind of the ‘Taylor Swift’ of alt. rock,” Zucha said.

The band tends to have more of an alternative rock vibe when they write music, but they each add a bit of their own style and draw from different sources.

“Our biggest influences are bands like The Band Camino, LANY, joan and Backseat Lovers,” Zucha said.

The band was able to pull their EP together over the summer because Zucha’s older brother has his own home recording studio in the Dallas area. At first, Zucha didn’t want to bother his brother with recording music for his college band, but his brother ended up being more than willing to help the band out by recording and playing drums and bass for their EP.

“He [my brother] was like ‘Heck yeah, let’s do it,’” Zucha said. “He’s pretty insane when it comes to music.”

Zucha is also glad that McKnight and Fulton took time out of their days during quarantine and over summer break to drive to the Dallas area and stay with him and his brother. They made about four or five trips to Zucha’s brother’s house to spread out the process, ensuring the best result.

All three feel fortunate to have had Zucha’s brother in their corner throughout their project. The quality of their EP is more professional sounding than many would expect from a college band releasing their first album. The three all agree that the EP is “legit.” “We’re working with people out of our league as far as our age and the amount of experience and resources we have,” McKnight said. “We’re blessed to have such an incredible and professional team to work with.”

Zucha sings lead vocals for two of the songs on the EP, then Fulton sings lead vocals for two songs and they finish the album singing lead vocals together.

Fulton’s favorite song on the EP is the opening track “Never Seattle,” which was actually a song he started in his shower, and he describes it as “Camino-esque.”

McKnight compared choosing his favorite song on the EP to a parent choosing their favorite child. However, he finally settled on the song “Over.”

“It communicates very clearly, but in a very creative way,” McKnight said.

Zucha’s favorite song is “The Well.” This song was actually close to being cut from the EP because it did not turn out the way the band originally wanted it to sound, but they ultimately decided to include it on the album.

According to Fulton, the band put a lot of thought into how they ordered the songs in the EP. The band suggests listening to the songs in order to get the full effect.

The EP will be available Nov. 5 on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, TikTok and anywhere else that music can be streamed.

The band’s main goal is to use their music to build a community. Sharing the EP and liking it on streaming services helps them do so.

For more details on the EP release and future music from Third Floor Village, be sure to follow their Instagram @thirdfloorvillage.