By T’evon Shuler

Before TWU

It is no question that Tennessee Wesleyan University has been around for some time since it was founded in 1857. That being said, many may question what was here before it was a university. Before Tennessee Wesleyan, Athens was a battleground for the Civil War and one of our buildings was used as a hospital. That building was Old College!

Story of Barnabas

Old College being a hospital for soldiers in the Civil War in the middle of Athens, TN is mind boggling. Thus the story of Barnabas. Barnabas was a soldier during the time of the Civil War and is now rumored to be stuck inside the Old College building. Many reports have come from Faculty and workers of strange noises that can be heard inside the building when alone. There were not only reports of strange sounds, but also reports of strange things happening inside the building. Legend has it that at night, if you were to look at the windows, you would see a shadow-like figure.

Townsend

Old College is not the only haunted place on campus as the security officers of Tennessee Wesleyan have heard many things in Townsend. Being in buildings at night alone can be scary by itself, but when you hear running footsteps going around you, it is scarier. If you were to ask, many of the security guards on campus have experienced the unnatural sounds and laughs of women inside Townsend. Sometimes if you are in the Thunder Fitness Center alone at night, you can hear the footsteps above you, but the stage of Townsend is empty.

Campus Living

There have been other reports of supernatural occurrences on campus that can not be explained, and another is Keith’s 1st floor. Stories have gone around of windows randomly opening when people are asleep. A student in Keith with a private room has experienced this first hand. One night she went to sleep with the window closed because it was windy outside, but she had woken up cold. When she went to see why it was so cold in the room, the window was strangely opened. She then closed it thinking maybe she had done it, but the same thing happened again and again for a countless number of nights.

TWU is steeped in Athens history that goes all the way back to the Civil War. With so many stories and lore, there’s really no telling if ghosts roam the campus or if these phenomena were simply the wind.

Video and Video Editing by Emilia Mercado
Audio by Tyris Nelson
Editorial by Marco Martinez