From a ghost of a pregnant girl haunting Troxel Hall to young soldiers from the 1800s roaming Cavalry Hall, UTRGV has its fair share of urban legends, leaving campus community members wondering, are these stories real or fake?
To learn about ghost stories on the UTRGV campuses, The Rider spoke with Thomas Hotcaveg, one of the founders of RGV Paranormal Investigations, and with English Lecturer Mary Ann Escamilla, who has been a part of the Edinburg campus, as a student and employee, since the late 1980s.
Edinburg
During her time with the university, Escamilla told The Rider she has heard an urban legend about Troxel Hall.
“From what I remember, Troxel Hall is supposed to have a haunted dorm room, or something like that, of a student who took [her] own life,” she said. “People get chills, you know, the regular chills. They think that they’re orbs or things that they see.”
The Troxel Hall dormitory legend has it that a young woman got pregnant by a student who took her as a one-night stand. However, the young woman thought the student really liked her.
When she found out that she was pregnant, the young woman attempted to give herself an abortion in her dorm room. Realizing she could not do so, she committed suicide.
Other versions of this story say the young woman died while giving herself an abortion.
Legend has it that students living at Troxel Hall may see the young woman at night knocking on a certain door.
A young girl was found dead by the external staircase of the Science Building on the Edinburg campus.
It is said the young girl can be found staring down at people from the third floor.
The story says she may have jumped from the balcony of the third floor that connects the external staircase with the Science Building located on the east side of campus.
“There have been people who say that they see her,” Escamilla said. “Apparently, they think that if people get close enough to her, that she will throw them down or something like that.”
She said more people have said they have seen the girl stare down at them while walking through campus.
Escamilla said she has heard many stories and encounters from different people over the years. Some stories she has heard are about different tools or equipment that move or turn on by themselves.
“You always hear different things,” she said. “I’ve heard that another professor says that there was another piece of equipment that turned on also and was giving readings.”
The English lecturer said campus community members who believe or doubt these legends should follow what they believe.
As for Escamilla herself, she has not ruled out the possibility of other forms of energy being among the living.
“I know some people are determined to say, ‘No! It doesn’t exist!’ but if you really think about how much we know this universe and of this Earth we live in, can we really say there’s nothing else out there?” she asked. “We do have in science that whole thing that energy remains energy [and energy becomes matter], so what happens to our energy kind of thing?”
Brownsville
The UTRGV Brownsville campus and Texas Southmost College are on the site of the former Fort Brown, which was built in 1846 and housed federal troops during the Mexican-American War.
Fort Brown’s original hospital building is now the administration building for TSC. Other buildings include an old prison, warehouse and morgue.
Hotcaveg said his team has never conducted ghost hunts at UTRGV, but it has right across the street on the TSC grounds.
TSC is leasing several buildings to the UT System, including Cavalry Hall and Sid Eidman Hall.
Cavalry Hall, built in 1868, served as barracks until World War I; it then served as a quartermaster warehouse and commissary.
Hotcaveg said he and his team have encountered young soldiers walking through Cavalry Hall during several RGV Paranormal Investigations ghost hunts.
“At the TSC campus, we have encountered the lady in white roaming around the campus, what appears to be a gambler in Gorgas Hall, several children, soldiers, as well, and an old cook that we picked up that his nickname is ‘Big Red,’” he said.
The legend of the lady in white, not to be confused by the legend of La Llorona, has it that a mother is looking for her wounded son, who served during the Mexican-American War.
Stories say some people walking through campus at night may come across the lady in white and she will ask them if they have seen her son.
During several RGV Paranormal Investigations ghost hunts, Hotcaveg told The Rider he has noticed women will feel sadness around TSC’s Old Morgue building.
“There’s been incidents where we walk around the morgue and some of the women participants get real sentimental,” he said. “They just start crying out of the blue with no explanation.”
Hotcaveg said this may occur when ghosts attach themselves to an individual. Typical signs include a sudden change of mood or behavior, he said.
He also said some ghosts may even follow individuals home. Hotcaveg and his team take precautions when conducting ghost hunts.
“I don’t want to scare anybody, you know, but there’s possibilities that they can follow you home,” he said. “We take precautions in that. One of the precautions that we take, is we pray for protection before we start each investigation and once we’re done, we pray out.”
Hotcaveg said he encourages participants to go to a well-lit area after ghost hunts. He said a ghost will detach itself in a well-lit area, such as a Denny’s or Wal-Mart.
These are not the only ghosts that have been spotted at TSC or the Brownsville campus. Hotcaveg said there have been many stories of ghosts who appear to campus community members at night that have not been named or identified.
Whether these stories are true or not, it is up to you to decide.
This Halloween, what will you believe?
