JMU myths you probably didn’t know about

I’ll be the first to admit it that I had no idea that JMU had a it’s share of myths. These eight myths were by no means so short lived and still get talked of today, I mean JMU even has a web page dedicated to describing and debunking each and every one of them. After reading some of these you’ll definitely be quoting Sharknado–“OH HELL NO!”

The Tunnels

The most famous of the JMU myths deals with the mysterious underground tunnels beneath the Quad. From violent murders, suicides, abandoned newborn to strange noises and footsteps this is the legend of all legends.

“The most detailed legend about the tunnel deals with a student in the 1920s who is supposed to have received a note to meet her boyfriend in the tunnel.

Her friends warned her about the rendezvous because the girl had been receiving little notes and gifts from an unknown “admirer.” In addition, the campus was on edge because of reports of a Peeping Tom.

She ignored her friends, gussied up and put on her best perfume.

When she arrived in the tunnel, she discovered that her “boyfriend” was actually a crazed stalker. He attacked her, ravaged her and eventually killed her.

Her body was left in the tunnel. It was found the next day by her roommates.

The legend about the murder in the tunnel contains the post script that, even today, you can occasionally catch a whiff of the victim’s perfume and hear her footsteps.”

The Lady in Red

In the early 1970s, a terrifying rumor spread through the campuses of Madison College and Mary Baldwin College of an administrator that would kill a coed at a college in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley whose name began with an “M”  all wile wearing a red dress.

The story was attributed to the premier astrologer and soothsayer of the day, Jeanne Dixon.

“At that time, Jeanne Dixon predictions were to be feared. The noted clairvoyant was credited with predicting the assassinations of Mahatma Ghandhi, John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King – as well as the launching of the Soviet satellite Sputnik and the airplane crash that killed United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld.

(For the record, Dixon also predicted that a comet would strike the earth in the mid-1980s, that Russia would be the first nation to put men on the moon, that World War III would begin in 1954 and that Fidel Castro would be overthrown in 1970.)”

Cupola Hanging

For more than 50 years, rumor has it that a female student was indulging in some “hanky-panky” with a married professor. And as any other story of a student-teacher hookup would end, the professor dumped her.

The student is said to have made her way to the cupola (the bell tower) of Wilson Hall and committed suicide by hanging herself. According to the legend, on some nights you can still see the girl hanging in the window of the cupola.

The Little Bo Peep Ax Murderer 

Halloweekend is the weekend at JMU and has been since photos were still being taken in black and white.

JMU’s version of The Little Bo Peep centers around Eagle Hall. The legend says that a deranged student dressed as Little Bo Peep celebrated Halloween by taking an ax to her suitemates on the sixth floor of the residence hall.

The story of course varies by the number of victims and weapon of choice.

General Turner Ashby Walks 

Confederate General Turner Ashby was killed in a Civil War skirmish near what-is-today James Madison University. During battle, he was hit in the chest with a mini ball and died instantly.

There are those who say that Ashby’s spirit walks through and near the JMU campus on occasion, as well as a phantom cavalry appearing in the moonlight.

And of course we have Ashby Lab on the Quad and an apartment complex know as Ashby which makes it all the more creepy. Never going near them again.

The Kissing Rock

In the institution’s early years, female students were not allowed to be seen in the company of young men without a dorm mother present. A couple seeking privacy would hide behind the big rock and make out. Kissing Rock was born.

They say if you and your special someone kiss on the Kissing Rock, you’ll get married and live happily ever after. Ok, maybe not that second part.

Switched Buildings

Apparently, both JMU and Virginia Tech were building new education buildings in the late 1970s with the same architect. The story goes that somehow, the architects’ drawings for the two education buildings were switched and resulted in Virginia Tech ending up with JMU’s building and vise versa.

If you really think about it, Roop Hall is the only building on the quad that doesn’t match any of the others. Hmm.

The Hillcrest Shower

Ok, this is kind of a dumb one, but bear with me.

The story start with a group of male JMU students playing a sport on a muddy field. After their game, the smelly, muddy students head back to shower and go to dinner.

When they get back, they discover that the water has been turned off and they have no way to shower. (NOOOOO!)

One of the muddy players comes up with  the bright idea of asking President Carrier to let them use the showers in Hillcrest. (From 1971 to 1978, President Ronald E. Carrier and his family lived in Hillcrest in the center of campus.)

The filthy crew walks up to the door of Hillcrest and knock. Edith Carrier answers the door. They explain what has happened and she tells them come on in.

One by one, they trooped into the Hillcrest shower, scrubbed up dry off with the Carriers’ best towels before heading off to D-Hall for dinner.

So there you have it, JMU too is full of quick-spreading rumors that don’t include last weekend’s hookup.