By Olivia Guastella | October 28, 2024
Alden Hall on Alumni Quad.
Photo Credit: Vince Gasparini / The ASP
Spine-chilling and creepy phenomenons have been popping up around the University at Albany’s Alumni Quad.
Chika Ndukwe, a senior biology major, had a hair-raising experience at the university’s downtown dormitories. In the dorm hall Ndukwe was staying in, yellow colored stickers adhered to the suite doors, indicating unaccompanied rooms. She was the only person in the hall.
But at night, when Ndukwe was alone in her room, “I heard someone scream and I heard a thud,” Ndukwe said, “I’m like ‘oh maybe someone got hurt’ so like the concerned person I am -I am trying to be a doctor- I decided to check and see what happened.”
Ndukwe crept to the room at the end of the hall and put her ear to the door. After not hearing a peep -and realizing it was a bit creepy to eavesdrop, “I knocked and there was no response,” Ndukwe said. With no answer, she went back to her room.
“Later that night I heard a scream and then another bang,” Ndukwe said. “The fact that it happened in the same order, someone has to be playing.
“But this time when I went down the hall, I heard someone speaking in the room. It didn’t sound like they were speaking to somebody, but they were speaking,” Ndukwe said.
“I knock and nobody responds again,” Ndukwe said, “I tried to convince them that I was someone important, so I knocked and said, ‘Res life,’ and still no one responded.”
Ndukwe tried to see what was happening in the room so she looked through the window -which she admitted was a bit nosy- and saw the windows were open and nobody was in the room.
After that, Ndukwe’s dad came to pick her up for Thanksgiving break, ending her unsettling experience.
However, according to Renee Mallett’s book Ghosts of NY’s Capital District, other paranormal events occur in Alumni Quad’s dorm halls. For example, female ghosts covered in white walk aimlessly in Pierce Hall.
Numerous witnesses have said they see the ghost lady, but no one knows why she hangs out in the halls or if she has a tragic backstory. They don’t even know her name.
According to The University at Albany Campus Buildings Historical Tour, Pierce Hall was built in 1935 and named after Anna E. Pierce, the former dean of female student affairs. Maybe the ghost covered in white is Anna.
So if you go to Alumni Quad keep a lookout for ghosts and other paranormal activities.