The University of Vermont has overlooked Burlington since 1791. In those 232 years, generations of students, faculty and visitors have passed through its red brick buildings.

With such a long and storied past, UVM has collected decades’ worth of local legends and alleged hauntings; many of which take place in the halls students still reside in.

Alleged haunted buildings on campus include Converse Hall, Bittersweet House, Coolidge Hall, Grasse Mount and others, according to a Vermonter.com article.

Luis Vivanco, professor of anthropology, has had multiple encounters with ghosts on campus and in his office in Williams Hall.

Early in his career, he said he had worked a long day in Williams Hall and left the building around midnight. As he was leaving the fifth floor, there was an intense wind in the hallway and then he felt a female presence as he continued walking.

“I feel her bumping me, like literally bumping me […] as I’m going down the stairs. I can feel [her] right on top of me. I come to the front door entrance, and as soon as I step out the door, it stops. Like the presence stays in the building,” he said.

That same night, Vivanco was once again confronted by another ghost at the president’s house on South Williams Street. The house was vacant because the president had just been fired, he said.

“In the vestibule is this young woman staring at me […] she was wearing clothing that was not of his era, and she’s just staring at me. I can just see right through her to the door behind,” he said.

Vivanco’s work in Williams has brought him many other encounters with ghosts. He remembers his dog barking at nothing, a chair falling over with no one near it and a map on the wall of the anthropology seminar room falling over after he told his ghost encounter story to the class.

Another haunted UVM building is Bittersweet House, located at the corner of Main and South Prospect Streets, which is known for the spirit named Daisy who haunts the historic brick side of the house, Vivanco said.

The story of the house is that a woman named Margaret L.H. Smith lived there from 1928—years after her husband died in a car accident—to 1961, when it became UVM property, according to a 2011 UVM Historic Preservation Program article.

Vivanco said he was once in a meeting in Bittersweet House and a professor walked by concerned that the room was very cold in one spot, but couldn’t find a reason why and walked away.

“We all saw this flash of light right when she walked away, and then it followed her. And then someone was like, ‘Oh, that’s Daisy, right?’” he said.

Students have reported ghostly experiences on campus as well. Despite its location on the peaceful Redstone green, Coolidge Hall has been the site of some eerie encounters.

Sophomore Cassidy Colvin was recently subject to an alleged haunting in the dorm’s basement.

While getting ready to leave with a group, Colvin and a friend lagged behind to use the bathroom.

The duo left the bathroom and opted to exit Coolidge via the basement. They heard their friends walking further up ahead and called out to them, getting a quick “Okay, we’ll wait” in response.

However, after realizing they hadn’t run into their friends in the hallway, Colvin received a call from her roommate.

“She asks where we are, then proceeds to tell us they are all waiting for us outside, but by the other entrance, an entire floor above, and the other side of the building,” she said.

After realizing the voices they heard could not have belonged to Colvin’s roommate, the two girls panicked and ran to the exit at the end of the hallway.

“It could have been the adrenaline, but we both swear we heard footsteps running behind us,” Colvin said.

Once the two groups met up and exchanged stories, it was confirmed that Colvin’s friends had not been in the basement at all and were outside the entire time.

“Since then, I will not go in the basement alone or at night. The Coolidge basement is haunted.” Colvin said after the experience.

There have been reports of many different spirits in Coolidge. Stories compiled by Vermonter.com told of a male spirit who wakes students by staring at them and a more playful spirit who will tug the blankets off of the bed.

As Coolidge Hall was built in 1947, it is hard to determine who these spirits may be. However, Coolidge’s basement is still referred to as one of the creepiest locations on campus.

The grand, yellow mansion at the corner of Main and Summit street is Grasse Mount and is another famously haunted UVM building, allegedly. It was built by Captain Thaddeus Tuttle in 1804 who may still haunt it today, according to an article by Hauntedhouses.com.

Cheryl Carmi, associate director of communications for the UVM Foundation, housed in Grasse Mount, has colleagues who have had ghost encounters in the building.

“A former Foundation director ran into a UVM official at an event, who asked, ‘Hey, what on earth were you doing up in the cupola at Grasse Mount at 5:30 yesterday morning?’ The director assured him that he had not been up in the cupola early that morning,” she said in an Oct. 22 email to the Cynic.

With many of UVM’s buildings old and potentially haunted, it’s best to take a second look, or not, when you hear a voice call your name, feel a draft or see a book fall out of the corner of your eye.