UIUC Undergraduate Students: Their Take on Urban Legends

As part of the research conducted on Urban Legends at the University of Illinois, I spent some time communicating with undergraduate students, via email as well as in informal conversations. I approached random students in the Illini Union to attempt to get a random sampling of the student population, and a variety of stories and experiences. Out of all the students I spoke with, only a few had never heard of any Urban Legends of the UIUC campus, and most often, these students were either freshman or transfer students. It is clear that the Urban Legends and stories of the campus which become ingrained in the students come to them over time, through late nights studying at the library, walking home past the English Building or Alma Mater, strolling the Quad during a summer night with their sweetheart past the Eternal Flame, and through other typical student life experiences. The students that were not able to recall any Urban Legends here at the University of Illinois may not have been able to think of one on the spot, but still might have had one in the back of their minds. Story infiltrates our minds, when we are least expecting or aware, and becomes a part of our psyche. These stories build a structure of the memories students will have of the University after years past.

For now, this is what the Undergraduate students I spoke with have to say about specific campus legends.

On Their Belief of the Legends They've Heard:

• "You've gotta believe in something!"
• "[I do not believe in the Urban Legends I have heard of] unless there are some lonly (sic) grad students out there..." (referring to the Urban Legend that grad students sleep overnight in the Main Stacks.)
• "There is possibly some truth [behind Urban Legends] but mostly it is blown out of proportion."
• "I tend not to believe [in Urban Legends].

The English Building Haunting:

• "I believe some of the things might have happened, like the girl dying in the English building, but as for the haunting, not so much."
• "I'm not sure about that english building or bookstacks ghost. Like I said, I'm more sure my room is haunted, but not in a cool way, just in a movement-out-of-the-corner-of-my-eye way."
• "I know the English Building's haunted, because a girl got murdered there back when it was a dormitory."

The Foreign Language Building and Its Specialized Architecture:

• "The FLB will explode outwards. A buddy of mine in CS (Computer Science) gave tours, so I know this is true."
• "The Foreign Language Building was built so that it would not collapse and would thus keep a very important computer from being destroyed. However this is not true--in fact, the opposite would happen and the building would collapse inwards." ... "I believe the story about FLB because I heard it on a tour, I think...or from someone who heart it on a tour of the campus."
• "The Foreign Language Building was built upside down because it held one of the first super computers, so that if there was an attack, the building would fall on it and destroy the computer (so nobody else would get our information)"

The University Library: Miscellaneous Stories:

• "I believe the story about the library staircase because I was talking to someone who claimed they climbed it...so I would think that would be true."
• "Oh and there's supposed to be a ghost in the main stacks too. People at work talk about it sometimes. I guess it only shows up on 6 east at around 4 p.m. or 4 east at around 6 p.m., I forget which. It's not that interesting of a story though."

Other Stories:

• "I think a pretty important thing to mention here is the tunnels. A lot of people I talk to have heard things about the tunnels and have their own set of things they believe about them. It's widely held that there's a system of creepy maintenance-access-style tunnels connecting a number of buildings on the quad, possibly even every campus building. People know people who claim to have been in them...Everyone seems to know something about them, but I don't think I've ever met anyone who's actually claimed to have been in them..."

The stories that were most frequently believed were those the student had heard from a friend or reliable resource, as is consistent with the passing on of Urban Legends. If a story comes from a trusted or reliable source, the belief in it is even stronger, and this genuineness and sincerity can often come through in the next telling and add to the credibility. Some students trusted the information they heard during New Student orientation tours, while others thought those anecdotes were just made up. Many of the students were skeptical of things they had just vaguely heard of, and were wary of being duped or had. It is certain that as a story is told, there are variants, and details change, in the instance of the architecture of the Foreign Language Building. Some students thought the building would self-destruct if attacked by an enemy, destroying the supercomputer purposely to keep its informational contents secret, while others believe the structural speciality was for preserving the supercomputer against all odds.

Many students asserted that they did not believe in the stories they had heard. Whether or not they believe in the legend of the Ghost in the English Building, or that they truly will marry their sweetheart if they kiss at the Eternal Flame, these stories have become part of their University of Illinois experience. When the students go away from this place and carry on with their lives, they will remember not which History course they took one semester, or what was happening with University administration at the time, but the stories of their alma mater.

About Urban Legends

Urban Legends @ UIUC

What Students Have to Say about Urban Legends

What's the Meaning of All of This?

Sources Used and Thanks

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©2005 Annette Lesak

Page Created April 28th, 2005

Images Courtesy of the University of Illinois and University Archives