Before being named Van Meter Hall, the edifice that crowns the Hill was known as the Administration Building. Inside is Van Meter Auditorium, the site of countless lectures, concerts, plays, commencement exercises and regular assemblies of the student body, known as "chapel," in which President Henry Hardin Cherry would deliver inspiring orations.
	Construction on this Classical Revival structure, named for Western benefactor and Chancellor Capt. Charles J. Van Meter, commenced in 1909, with a skylight planned above the stage of the 2,000-seat auditorium. One day, a workman who was perched on the skylight looked up from his labors and spotted an airplane. What a novel, and perhaps frightening, sight this must have been in early 20th-century Bowling Green! Out of fascination--or perhaps shock--the unfortunate man became disoriented, lost his balance, plummeted to the half-built stage, and died.

Some wise folks say this tragedy actually occurred in the 1940s, when the skylight was being covered over. In any event, the workman's broken body left a large bloodstain which, to this day, will appear as a ghostly red glow during events in the auditorium. Attempts to clean or replace the stage flooring have proven futile, as the stain "soaks through" and reappears. But this ghost also reclaims his body and makes his presence known to horror-stricken students. "It stood motionless, staring at me," recalled one. "Its face contained no emotion or expression, yet its blank stare penetrated me. Its body seemed to be engulfed in a strange blue light." Other witnesses have described a man in his 50s, or just a figure in white. The ghost is sometimes content just to make mischief--turning on lights, knocking over music stands, opening and closing curtains and moving furniture. Staff of the Office of University Relations, which moved into Van Meter Hall in 1997, arrived at work one morning to find a large table inexplicably moved to the opposite end of the lobby. They have also experienced strange computer "glitches" which they can only attribute to the ghost's "fascination with technology." Variations of the story describe the ghost differently: as a young actress who committed suicide, or a hermit who lives in a cave beneath the stage, or Henry Hardin Cherry himself. Who knows what other explanations will come to mind for those who have "never felt alone in the building?"

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All images courtesy of Department of Library Special Collections, Western Kentucky University. Site designed by Lynn Niedermeier, University Archives and maintained by University Libraries Web Site Team. © 2003 Western Kentucky University. Last modified September 6, 2003. URL: http://www.wku.edu/Library/dlsc/GhostStories/Stories/vanmeterstory.htm