Hidden Secrets: 5 Colleges You Should Know About

By Walbert Castillo on September 30, 2014

Every college has their own story to tell. Whether it be renowned for a beautiful landscape, a haunted history or a well-designed architectural layout, these are the colleges that fit within this criterion.

There were so many colleges to choose from so I apologize if your college is not listed on here. However, enjoy this comprehensive list of best-kept secrets of colleges around the nation.

University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, California) 

Who would’ve known that UC Berkeley has its own forbidden underworld? Built in the 1900s to generate power all around campus, the steam tunnels are rumored to connect from building to building.

These tunnels house a variety of random objects. To flashing lights, network wires, phone cables and random hisses at night, the steam tunnels at UC Berkeley also possess a great threat to those trespassing. Hot steam and asbestos are some of the dangers that lurkers face within these tunnels.

If you plan to explore these steam tunnels, it is recommended that you should have a guide from physical plant services. John Peterson, one of the engineers who has experience working in steam tunnels, said that he saw a man’s hardhat melt as he tried sprinting out of the tunnels.

In 1999, students ventured out to these steam tunnels and mapped out their journey. According to their map, the tunnels led them from the Heating Plant on Cross Campus Road (northwest of Harmon Gym) stretching all the way to the Old Art Gallery.

Who knows what could be roaming around those steam tunnels after 15 years?

Image via: http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/

Denison University (Granville, Ohio)

An independent, coeducational, residential college of liberal arts and sciences, Denison University makes its home in Granville, Ohio.

In the 2012-2013 school year, Denison had a total number of 2,385 students enrolled. Populated with 5,600 citizens, Granville is not that big of a town. However, it’s only a 25-minute drive to the metropolitan area of Ohio.

Unigo interviewed a freshman at Denison and she mentioned her absolutely favorite thing about Denison was the size of the lecture halls because they only have THIRTY seats. At a university like this, it is evident that students find happiness in smaller class sizes.

In Denison, there is supposedly a secret society called the Wingless Angels and their main purpose on campus is to wreak havoc and bring the students’ attention to wrongful doings. It is believed that they have set four fires in a number of these recent years, according to an article from The Dispatch.

The Wingless Angels are suspected to wear full-faced hockey masks and wear black or red sweatshirts. Unigo interviewed several students on campus and stated, “Since I have been at Denison, I’ve encountered the Wingless Angels on only a few occasions. The first time I even heard of them was after they branded their logo of W and A into the perfectly manicured soccer field. I next saw them at the freshmen girls housing lottery, when a couple members came running in with their signature hockey masks on, while passing out a fake version of a check to the president implying that the lottery is corrupt.”

Image via: www.ctcl.org

Ripon College (Ripon, Wisconsin) 

Founded in 1851 and located right next to the cemetery, Ripon College is home to many ghosts of the paranoia. There are a large number of incidents that have occurred on this campus. Believe it or not, Harrison Ford attended this college.

In room 104 of Brockway Hall, a football player received an unexpected visitor. He reported to have heard three knocks on his door but when he answered, no one was there. Brockway residents have reported a sudden temperature change at times.

In Hughes House, the sound of wailing was reported from the upper floor. When a group of freshman girls checked out the noise, they reported to have seen shadows lurking the hallways.

Sometime around the mid-eighties, several students tried to conjure up a ghost during Halloween. They painted a red pentagram on the floor between the rooms of 203 and 204. However, the student read the book of spells wrong and a demon appeared instead.

Many students said that they’ve witnessed a black figure standing 15 feet tall with red eyes. They believe that this figure is the demon that the students conjured up.

The demon was then sighted again in 1990 in Mapes Hall room 104 and it is said that a student defeated the demon. From that day on, the demon hasn’t been spotted.

Image via: flickr.com 

Stanford (Stanford, California) 

For those of you who have never been to Stanford before, a place that’s highly recommended to check out would be the Kingscote secret gardens. There is no public record to identify the garden’s designer.

Located between Lomita Drive and Tresidder Union, the garden is tucked away from campus life. However, most of the students that visit the garden are graduate students.

Beauty exquisitely surrounds this garden from two quiet ponds, to a little bridge, to evergreens, hedges and tulip trees.

Since 1915, the garden has been kept original.

“The whole area remains hidden from campus life,” Stanford Daily stated.

Image via: outdoorsmom.files.wordpress.com

United States Air Force Academy (Colorado Springs, Colorado) 

Last but not least, our last stop brings us to the  United States Air Force Academy. Ranked as number seven in America’s Best Colleges by Forbes, the Academy is renowned for its distinguished military camps and air force academies.

Covering at least 18,500 acres, the facilities and buildings at this institution are engineered and designed to the highest degree of excellence.

Built in 1962 under the direction of Walter Netsch, the Cadet Chapel is known to be the iconic symbol for the university itself. The cost to construct this building was approximately $3.5 million.

The United States Air Force Cadet Chapel is a place of worship for Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Buddhists. USAFA states that “the chapel’s aluminum, glass and steel structure soars more than 150 feet into the Colorado sky. Its 17 spires can be easily spotted from Interstate 25.”

Image via: tomnichols.net

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