Photo courtesy of Eat Sleep Play Beaufort | The new chapel contains some spooky residents. Xavier students are excited to finally have something to do on the weekends. The ghosts are not excited about paying housing fees.
The Xavier community is welcoming it’s newest physical addition: the Smith family haunted chapel. The chapel was moved from its location on the family plot of land and is now located at the end of Xavier’s academic mall, right next to Schott Hall. The chapel is currently under construction but is slated to open to the public in the fall of 2018. Reports from the workers say the construction is moving slowly due to interference from the two ghosts that are currently inhabiting the space.
“There’s a wise old man ghost and a scary little girl ghost,” Richard Sawyer, the project overseer for Xavier said. “We thought that those two best fit the needs of a classic ghost plot line and would best satisfy the needs of the students.”
The transfer of the haunted chapel comes as a direct response from the student climate survey results released in 2017. Sawyer says that the chapel will hopefully satisfy the two largest student concerns: lack of excitement on campus and a desire for a more Hogwarts-like environment.
“We don’t have any frats on campus so I never know what to do on the weekends,” first year Luke Tyron said. “A couple ghosts on campus would definitely make life here more interesting. A couple of magical quests with the broskies? Hell yeah.” The scary little girl ghost has proved to be popular in focus groups who are concerned with excitement on campus.
The wise old man ghost is aiming to satisfy the student population that came to Xavier seeking the full Hogwarts experience. “The castle-like building of Hinkle and the creepy dungeons of Hailstones really gave me high hopes on my tour,” sophomore Sophie Candell said. “I finally feel like the promise of Hogwarts is being given to me.”
Issues like safe spaces for minorities and increased on-campus housing were also concerns on the survey, but do not have easy solutions like the haunted chapel. “We really hope that students feel that their needs have been immediately met,” Sawyer said. Xavier does have plans to address the housing shortage with hobbit-like dorms in the side of the hill leading to the Village. Construction on the Shire is slated to begin in the summer of 2019.
By: Riley Head ~Certified Ghostbuster~