The Spectrum office is not haunted; thank God.
North Dakota State is an old institution, so the buildings on campus have some stories to tells. Not just snooze-inducing study abroad stories, but ghost stories, the kind that have haunted the night staff at NDSU for years.
Candy Skauge works among the hollowed stories of NDSU and Fargo at the NDSU Archives. Skauge said these stories where taught and celebrated by a former professor, Timothy Kloberdanz, who led his famous tour of supposedly haunted landmarks on campus.
“We would all meet at the Memorial Union,” Skauge said of the tour. According to Skauge, they would bring flashlights, which where more for effect than anything else because the buildings already had lights.
The group would then travel to Ceres Hall, which Skauge said is speculated to be haunted by a female ghost. The story is debated on whether the supposedly lovesick girl hung herself in the hall or threw herself out the window.
“I know that people even now have seen something up there,” Skauge said. “They feel uneasy.”
Skauge said that prior to renovations, the building had an elevator that was supposedly haunted. This could have been due to the fact that the elevator was old and rickety, according to Skauge. “That thing creaked, and it wiggled,” Skauge said.
When Skauge had bad knees, she was forced to use the old elevator. “I went in it, and I was always like, ‘I hope I make it up,’ because it was a scary ride.”
The group would then walk past South Engineering, and Kloberdanz would point out a reported light anomaly. “He was talking about how there’s been random lights that had been up in that one part at the top.”
At the time, Skauge said she does not think there was an office in the part of the building.
“People have tried over the years to prove or disprove (the light anomaly),” Skauge said. These skeptics blamed flashlights, headlights and streetlights, according to Skauge. “It could be, but you know it would be pretty hard to get a headlight all the way up there, and it seems to be coming from the inside.”
After this, the group continued on foot to Minard Hall. “It was windy, and it was spooky, and just kind of fun,” Skauge said.
“(Some say) you can still hear them dancing and the singing.” – Candy Skauge
According to Skauge, Kloberdanz said there was an open area on top of Minard. In this empty space, people said there “was fire” at a dance and some had died. Skauge said there had never been a report of a fire at Minard, but that part of the lore has remained. “(Some say) you can still hear them dancing and the singing,” Skauge said.
Another ghost that is said to walk the halls of Minard is the “whistling ghost.” The reports come from the third floor history department. According to Skauge, Kloberdanz said he was staying late on the third floor.
“He knew there was no one on his floor,” Skauge said. “He was totally alone up there. He could hear this whistling from down the hall, and when he stopped and he looked, there was nobody out there.”
“He was totally alone up there. He could hear this whistling from down the hall, and when he stopped and he looked, there was nobody out there.” – Candy Skauge
Kloberdanz retired in 2010, and Skauge who took classes with him said, “He was just a neat guy … he loved a good tale.”
These ghost walks were not the end of NDSU’s paranormal investigations. Skauge said paranormal investigators and ghost hunters have visited the campus and studied these tales.
For more information, the NDSU Archives have a book written by Kloberdanz on North Dakota lore. The book includes all the stories included here and more. Kloberdanz’s book also includes stories from past students about hometown lore and storytelling.