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Issue date: 11/6/08 Section: Columns

Dr. Clifton Potter, LC History Professor [Click to enlarge]

Several years ago I stated in my column that as far as I knew there were no ghosts at Lynchburg College, but now it seems that, like some of our sister schools, we have resident spirits from both the faculty and the student body. Happily, few students have been lost over the last century, and even most of the faculty members whose last earthly memories were of the college do not seem to have unfinished business which would cause them to walk these hallowed halls. Mr. Charles H. Barrett died in his classroom and Mrs. Elsie E. Bock died in her office, but no departure from this life was as unusual as that of Dr. George P. Coler.

Dr. Josephus Hopwood resigned as president of the college in 1910. His administration was followed by that of Dr. S.T. Willis who resigned in 1912. Our third president, Mr. G.O. Davis, who had served as vice-president from 1906 until 1911, stayed for one year. Dr. Hopwood was not noted for his command of the mysteries of finance, and the college accounts were in disorder. Neither Willis nor Davis could straighten out the mess, and so Dr. Coler, who had an excellent reputation as a leader and organizer, was selected as the interim president of the college. He refused to become permanent president because he thought he was too old at 62! He suffered a fatal heart attack in Hopwood Auditorium while attending a dramatic presentation. Luckily the quality of our theater offerings has improved over the years. I have seen a number of actors "die" on stage, but the members of the audience have survived fairly well since 1915. Dr. John Trible Thomas Hundley took Dr. Coler's place, and began transforming the college into the institution we know today.

Before the Westover Hotel became the original college building it was the central structure of a resort complex. While there are no records of unexplained deaths or unsolved mysteries associated with Westover Hall, the building had an aura which is hard to describe. Only those who walked its halls after dark know what I mean. Perhaps when the Gray Lady was destroyed in 1970 the spirits which clung to it may have migrated to newer structures, hence the rumors of poltergeists that move things and even turn down the covers-or could this phenomenon be traced to the spirits of the young soldiers who fell on our campus during the Battle of Lynchburg on June 18, 1864?

For those of us who are descended from the Celtic folk, Halloween marks the last day of the year, a time when the veil that separates this life from the next is parted to permit those who will soon cross into eternity to visit briefly their earthly homes. As you returned to your dorm last Friday when the moon hid its face behind a cloud and the leaves scuttled across the walks, were those really shadows that you saw, or visible memories of the men and women who have loved this campus for over a century?

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