Lenoir Rhyne College - Hacawa Yearbook (Hickory, NC)

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Daniel Efird Rhyne Building completed in 1928. Old Main burns January 6, 1927. INTERVIEWER: Could you describe any of the activities going on at the College? Chapel? Luther League? NARRATOR: Yes, we had compulsory chapel every morning whether you had class or not that morning. To me, this was very meaningful. I learned a great variety of hymns that I would never have known if it hadn ' t been for those exercises. The fact of the matter, if you went to church at night, you could have a date. You could get to see the hoys, which was quite a unique experience. But these were very meaningful to me and then we did have some other religious activities . . . groups that would meet for special purposes. 22

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INTERVIEWER: Do you remember any of the stories about Freshman hazing? NARRATOR: Oh yes. We didn ' t have too much of it among the girls, but the boys did a good bit of this. We can remember the boys being paraded around the dormitory in their shorts . . . underclothes. Of course, we ' d all run to the windows, if we could keep any- body from seeing us, to find out what was going on. Then they had certain flag pole incidents. The Sophomore Class would have to keep their flag up over night on a certain special day and the boys would struggle all night long to see that the flag was kept on the top of the pole. I remember one girl in our dormitory. The Sophomores took her a great bunch of shoes to polish as one of her. . .tobe accepted into the class. She polished some of them and on some she wrote, Merry Christmas on them and different things like that. But I think the girls enjoyed wearing a dress backwards or something like that once in a while. 21

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4 hm in 2 ,« ( lfr« A Legend of Lenoir-Rhyne The story goes, that on the right night, one can hear sounds in Highland: sounds of talking, laughter and weeping. Possibly, you may hear something or someone walking the halls, closing doors, or climbing stairs. What is it that roams the half-century old building? No one really knows, but one explanation is that there is a presence here, someone who does not want anything in High- land Hall to change. A presence who jams doors, short circuits lights, and plays havoc on furniture, windows, and unwelcome visi- tors. As in most legends, here on the campus, the most recent and investigatable reports of strange activity come from users of the build- ings and security guards: those who spend regular amounts of time in the buildings. Highland is no exception. L.R.C. Playmakers, who in recent years have used third floor Highland for make-up rooms and costuming — have experienced the presence of the Highland ghost. Doors that have no locks on them have been found unopenable on many late night working sessions. Foot steps heard in the hall, are never seen. Furthermore, L.R.C. security reports similar occurences on their nightly rounds through the building. The Highland legend is the only spectre whose actions sometime take on aggressive tendencies. On a relatively quiet night, a security guard on a regular check of Highland, encountered footsteps on the stairs. Investigating, he climbed the stairs to the third floor landing, only to have the fire door slam shut in his face. Finding the door free to the touch, he entered onto the hall, only to hear movement at one end. Proceeding down a maze of stored furniture, the guard found lamps, chairs and other furniture strewn in his way. Finding lights and switching them on, he searched the entire hall — finding nothing. So, with this in mind, we ' ll leave the mystery of Highland Hall to your solving. 23