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Gipper stems from a commonly echoed stor y that Gipp would often sneak into Washington Hall when he had missed curfew and could not return to his residence. On one such night, Gipp could not get inside Washington Hall and resorted to sleeping on its steps. He contracted pneumonia as a result of the harsh conditions of South Bend, Indiana and later succumbed to the disease. The first reported sighting of the Ghost of the Gipper was in 1925, five years after Gipp’s death. Many more stories followed in subsequent years. Tom Barkes, Washington Hall’s manager in 1988, saw the stories as both fun and natural to the hall’s lifespan: “No self-respecting 107 year old theater should be without its ghost stories. Theater is magic to begin with, so it is a natural place for stories.” Others take them far more seriously, such as the group of four students who snuck into Washington Hall with an ouija board in 1985. They attempted to contact the Ghost of the Gipper only to have the board spell out “S…G” and then slide the planchette to “Goodbye.” After a second attempt that garnered the same result, the students hurried out of the hall. A security guard (SG) was seen making his rounds as they snuck out. Such Notre Dame lore has persisted for hundreds of years and is sure to continue into the future. The question now is simply when, not if, the ghost of George “The Gipper” Gipp will next be seen in his old sanctuar y, Washington Hall. Halloween: horrifying or hilarious? Oct. 31, 1988 | Mark Ridgeway | Oct. 31, 1991 | Paige Smoron | Oct. 30, 1996 | Dan Cichalski | Researched by Lilyann Gardner Even as the Ghost of the Gipper captured the imaginations of some students, the spirit of Halloween and its holiday traditions were a topic of debate at Notre Dame throughout the late 1980s and well into the 90s. Dan Cichalski (‘98), Assistant Accent Editor, took a strong stance in favor of making Halloween an official national holiday, arguing that it would establish a day in which ever yone would be able to celebrate those who have passed away while also allowing themselves to be someone or something else for a short while. “With Halloween officially recognized by the government though, people in such positions would be able to let their fun side go wild,” wrote Cichalski. Conversely, Mark Ridgeway (‘89), Systems Manager, argued that the meaning of
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Halloween had been lost. Ridgeway claimed that the celebration of the deceased surrounding A ll Hallows’ Eve and A ll Saints Day had been overrun by a dark side of violence, gore and evil. Morbid curiosity and the thrill of adrenaline that stemmed from watching horror films and attempting to commune with ghosts have cast the origins of Halloween into the shadows, according to Ridgeway. “As an adult, looking at the way Halloween is today, I feel the true meaning of the night has been lost, but that the fun of the celebration has not been lost,” Ridgeway wrote. The Obser ver and the University of Notre Dame were sure to maintain the playful nature of Halloween with dorm decorations, pumpkin car ving competitions and hypothetical seances. Paige Smoron (‘92), Assistant Accent Writer, interviewed students and faculty in 1991 to see which famous spirits should be conjured up at a Halloween seance. Elvis was at the top of the list, and other notable figures included Marilyn Monroe, Knute Rockne, Nikola Tesla, Caspar the friendly ghost and Jesus Christ. However, some students refused to entertain the notion of a seance at all due to its pagan origins. The moral meaning behind these Halloween traditions at Notre Dame may still be up in the air, but there is no denying that remembering the dead plays a role in more ways than one. Beyond Halloween: Diwali and Dia De Los Muertos at Notre Dame Oct. 30, 1997 | Bernadette Pampuch | Nov. 10, 2014 | Paul Stevenson | Researched by Thomas Dobbs Halloween may garner the
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Observer Archives, Nov. 10, 2014
A member of the Indian Assocation of Notre Dame celebrates Diwali, an ancient Hindu festival like “Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years combined into one.” Diwali is celebrated in October or November. most on-campus attention this season, but autumn also marks a time to consider celebrations that hold deeper spiritual and religious significance. In order to emphasize global religious events on campus, in 2004 Campus Ministr y began the Prayer from Around the World series to offer “the opportunity for various faith traditions to share their forms of praying with the campus communities.” One such holiday, Diwali, is a major five-day Hindu festival occurring in October or November that celebrates the “triumph of good over evil, light over dark and knowledge over darkness.” Nishant Singh (‘17) recalled eating candies and sweets during the Diwali festival as a child but emphasized that “Diwali is much bigger than Halloween. It is like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years combined into one.” As evidence of Diwali’s broad significance, Priscilla Wong,
senior advisor at the graduate and multicultural student ministr y, shared that she felt connected to Diwali despite not practicing Hinduism. Wong described celebrations of Diwali at friends’ houses and with her daughter’s Hindu spouse. W hile the sense of community is clear in Diwali celebrations, familial connections form the foundation of another autumnal holiday: Dia de los Muertos. Celebrated on the first and second of November, Dia de los Muertos may at first resemble Halloween with its elaborate displays of skulls or candy offerings. But unlike Halloween, Dia de los Muertos is a Mexican holiday centered on ref lection and the remembrance of “departed ancestors whose spirits visit the earth once each year.” Some celebrate by setting up altars in their homes to welcome their ancestors, while entire families can “spend the day cleaning
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and repainting graves, decorating tombstones with f lowers.” Although fire precautions, untrustworthy roommates or engineering shortcomings may limit the construction of an altar here on campus, one can celebrate Dia de los Muertos with a simple “prayer [or moment of remembrance] for a deceased family member.” W hile Halloween parties and costume contests provide for an uncomplicated and amusing holiday, the concurrent celebrations of Diwali and Dia de los Muertos elicit meaningful celebrations of family and renewal that are closely connected to the rituals themselves.
Contact Spencer Kelly at skelly25@nd.edu, Cade Czarnecki at cczarne3@nd.edu, Lilyann Gardner at lgarde2@nd.edu and Thomas Dobbs at tdobbs@nd.edu