There have been endless ghost stories haunting UC Berkeley throughout its 158 years. Yet rarely ever do these emerge past small, niche tales. But what if a whole school was truly haunted?
Welcome to Mills College, also known as Northeastern, a lengthy 174-year-old school, only a 15-minute drive from UC Berkeley. This college actually shares many building names with our campus, including Haas Pavillion, their El Campanil and the Greek Theater! So let’s take a deep dive into this sister school, with its many haunting tales that may even make Dwinelle Hall’s winding halls at night or Oski’s neverending smile seem not so frightening.
Mills College history
Originally founded as a Young Ladies Seminary in 1852, this Benicia-based college moved to Oakland 19 years later. Co-founded by Susan Mills, the school is known for its haunted history, in part due to Susan and her husband lying in the campus’s cemetery.
Many students remain aware of ghosts here, avoiding certain halls at night because of superstition. The alumni magazine Mills Quarterly and Bay Area locals, on forums such as Reddit, emphasize the campus’s haunts. There’s even a Facebook page dedicated to preserving the college’s spooky essence, and the campus art museum bolsters stone lion statues said to ward off unwelcome spirits.
Lisser Hall
Imagine if our Zellerbach Hall housed mysterious footsteps, invisible shoes creaking the floorboards of the stage. With no human in sight, this would be quite a fright. So imagine how it feels to walk in Mills’ Lisser Hall, the spectral home of the late professor Louis Lisser.
Some believe this professor haunts the theater stage. Others think Susan Mills, who disagreed with Louis on the school’s direction, watches over students here or perhaps argues with Louis perpetually. The owner of the ghost Facebook group even claims to have heard these footsteps himself late into the night, the supposed lost wanderings of Susan Mills. Imagine if our first president, Henry Durant, came to visit us in Zellerbach … spooky!
The Music Building
UC Berkeley has piano practice rooms in Morrison Hall, filled with students privately perfecting their craft. But what if, late at night, you stumbled upon piano notes from a room devoid of humanity? Apparently, this is common at Mills!
The college’s Music Building hosts piano practice rooms. However, one room is always filled by some ghostly presence. This spectre likes to make itself known for whatever reason, off-key notes bouncing up and down the ceiling to reach unsuspecting musicians’ ears.
Ethel Moore Hall
Creepy places on campus such as Dwinelle’s endless hallways and the foreboding forests by The Faculty Club mean nothing in comparison to Mills’ famous Ethel Moore Residence Hall. Many students choose not to study here alone, for fear of a ghost that appears to anyone inside. Another phantom haunts the hallways in an old-fashioned dress. One source even mentions that a ghost may finish your homework. Doesn’t sound too bad!
The Oval
Susan Mills, who lives deep underground in the school’s Sunnyside Cemetery, is rumored to have buried her dogs underneath a campus lawn called The Oval. This burial summoned strange phenomena — students and visitors alike say their dogs play with invisible animals. A pet playdate with the undead may be just what your own furry friend will find visiting here.
Orchard Meadow
You walk up a staircase in your dormitory, only to be stopped by a distraught, mysterious woman. Her wails echo through the building and pierce your heart. As the story goes, she sits on the stairs of Orchard Meadow Residence Hall, waiting for a date that will never come. Some say she’s been expecting her lover for more than 45 years. Perhaps one day her wish will be granted.
Warren Olney
If you think Unit 3 is haunted enough with its dim lighting and everlastingly cold showers, you haven’t seen the residence hall Warren Olney!
Residents supposedly hear a little girl whispering, often murmuring students’ names. She may be a deceased daughter of Warren Olney, trying to contact her father. With this, lights in the second-floor bathroom have a mind of their own, turning on or off, and doors close and open without anyone there. Perhaps when sleeping, the students here aren’t just surrounded by the living.
Mary Morse Road
Janitors and students alike hear sounds of a carriage loudly gallivanting about campus. And, rumors say, Mary Morse Road is home to an aimlessly wandering woman in a period dress, having been a victim in a tragic carriage accident.
Visiting
To experience the haunts for yourself, anyone can walk onto this 135-acre campus and go to the Visitor Center at Lisser Hall for directions. I went there once in the night, and the dramatic shadows of the gothic-style architecture certainly unsettled me, reminiscent of the ghastly history this school holds.
Additionally, Mills College Art Museum is open to the public, an opportunity to see local exhibits. For a Halloween trip to stimulate the spooked mood, go to Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland and then visit Mills as the sun sets to truly immerse yourself on grounds so richly in the past. Just don’t stay out too long, because you never know if Susan Mills herself will greet you in the dead of night.