Ghost “Hunting” at the Faculty Club at UC Berkeley with a Journalist for a Radio Story

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a journalist who had written about me twice before for the local paper. She has since moved on and is now at UC Berkeley, pursuing a masters in journalism. In the spirit of the season, she asked to interview me at a haunted location. She wanted to ask me some general questions as well as recording any contact with ghosts and or spirits that may occur.

UC Berkeley Faculty Club Great Hall

Initially I wanted to do the interview at the Claremont Spa and Resort which is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a young girl who had passed there several years ago. Unfortunately the staff their did not authorize us to do an interview in the room that was said to be haunted and so I went back online and found another location in Berkeley that is said to be haunted, the Faculty Club at UC Berkeley.

UC Berkeley Faculty Club Great Hall

The journalist contacted the Faculty Club and they granted permission, not only that but the Faculty Club was kind enough to provide us with a guided tour of the building which was initially built in 1902.

UC Berkeley Faculty Club Great Hall

After leading us on a tour Phyllis left the journalist and myself in the Spirit Tower, room 219. It was said that a former professor by the name of Henry Stephens had resided in the room for several years during the course of his tenure at UC Berkeley and upon his passing at the age of 60, he elected to continue residing within the room in spirit form. Lending credence to the ghost story was a newspaper clipping from 1974 that is on display at the Faculty Club’s offices. In the article it was reported that a visiting professor from Japan who himself was once a skeptic of ghosts, had an encounter with the former professor while staying in his former room during a visit to the University.

UC Berkeley Faculty Club Spirit Tower, Room 219

Now, everyone knows my position regarding ghosts, they are real. After all it was the appearance of a ghost in our home back in January of 2006 that brought my abilities to the surface and took me from skeptic to light worker in a matter of months. So the real question was not, are ghosts real? but rather … is he still here? and if so, can I help him.

UC Berkeley Faculty Club Spirit Tower, Room 219 Door

As a medium I am met by spirits and ghosts in advance of public or media related events where they tend to either reveal that they will be making an appearance or they may provide a reason for not appearing, in very rare cases I receive no information in advance, which to me indicates they will not make a showing, or that they have moved on … no longer a ghost or perhaps even reincarnated. Having not yet made contact with the ghost of the professor in advance, led me to believe that he most likely would not make a showing.

Sure enough several minutes into my attempts to connect with him, I felt as though he was not going to show up. At about this same time the journalists batteries died in her tape recorder and she had to return downstairs to grab another battery pack from her bag that she had left downstairs. After she left the room I began to walk around it myself and took everything in.

UC Berkeley Faculty Club Spirit Tower, Room 219 - 1920 Football Team Photo

The location was is called the Spirit Tower, but not due to the rumors of their being a ghostly inhabitant, rather it is a reference to team spirit and support of the schools athletic programs. Standing in the tiny room, with the rain pouring down and feeling the bricks of the fireplace I tried to take myself back in time and imagine what it was like for the professor who had lived here for years. Even with no one but myself in the tower, I felt nothing … not so much as a whisper of psychic energy, nothing ghostly for sure … just my own thoughts and the sound of heavy downpour. One photo in the room that caught my eye was of the 1920 football team. I noted to myself the lack of any real protective gear (by today’s standards) and briefly flashed on what tough character both mentally and physically that they must have had. I could hear the door at the bottom of the stairs open and sat back down at the little writing desk beside the bed as the journalist climbed the stairs back into the towers room that I was sitting in.

She had new batteries and was ready to continue the interview. I informed her that I did not believe that our professor was going to make a showing. And told her that I was going to shift my focus to any spirit who wished to connect with us. In a matter of moments I felt the energy in the room shift and I felt the presence of a spirit from the other side. After speaking with him for a moment I determined that they were connected with the 1920 football team. I thought that it was most likely the captain of the team. He informed us that he had passed due to pneumonia and then he spoke about the football team of this time period and how they were a bunch of sissies having to wear all the extra protective gear and face masks on the helmets. Even though he ripped the team a bit, he ended up the interview with a hearty “Go Bears!”

After returning home I did a little research on the 1920 football team and discovered that the teams coach died about five years after the photo I saw was taken and that he died of pneumonia, perhaps both the teams captain and the coach had made a showing, either way it was an enjoyable meeting. The interview should run this week on KALX 90.7 Berkeley, and though I do not know what time it will air, it should be available as a podcast that you can download and listen to at your leisure.

For those of you who would like to join psychic medium and animal communicator Charles Peden in communicating with spirits from beyond the grave, you can purchase tickets to a Halloween Seance that is taking place in San Francisco this Halloween from 9 PM to 11 PM. For more information about the seance and Charles Peden, visit www.charlespeden.com.

Update:

Here is the link to the interview: http://journalism.berkeley.edu/projects/radio/ngr/2009/10/28/everything-ominous/