Photos by
Lane Hickenbottom
Top: NATALIE WILSON, a senior environmental
engineering major, offers some candy to Leah
Bartek, 3, while her siblings, Shae Bartek, 7; Chase
Bartek, 11; and Lance Bartek, 9, look around for
more treats Wednesday night in Cather Hall.
Left: DEB STICKELS, a senior community health
major and the student assistant of Pound 5 waits for
trick-or-treaters Wednesday night in Pound Hall.
Temple’s lives on
Students have sneaky suspicion that ghosts, spirits haunt campus theater stage
By Emily Wray
Staff Reporter
In a profession where ghosts haunt many
(days and stories, the University of Nebraska
Lincoln’s theater department has afew of its
own.
The Temple Building, across from the
Lied Center for Performing Arts, most likely
has been die home of one or two ghosts.
But in the theater business, it’s consid
ered bad luck not to have a ghost.
Some say there’s only one ghost in
Temple, while others say two.
The first story began with the construc
tion of the Temple Budding in 1907, said Tice
Miller, chairman of die Department of The
atre Arts and Dance.
“One workman fell in a thick wall,” he
said. “They couldn’t get the body out. After
that, the ghost made regular appearances.”
Alan Boye, author of “A Guide to the
Ghosts of Lincoln,” added in his book that
the workman killed was ready to be a stu
dent in theater, which was against his car
penter father’s wishes.
Dallas Williams, head of the department
in the years after World War II, reportedly
saw the workman ghost sitting in the balcony
during a rehearsal, Miller sakl.
Scene shop foreman Paid Fox, who stud
ied at UNL12 years ago, said many students
call the ghost “Dallas,” in memory of Will
iams who died in 1971.
Miller said it was only logical for Will
iams to remain in Temple
“He (Dallas) was a legend when he died,”
Miller said. “Among the people he knew, we
knew he would be back and wouldn’t leave
the building.”
Miller said the ghosts were friendly.
Will Covin; senior theater major, said he
believes two ghosts exist: “Dallas” and an
other who was much older. He said he refers
to them as “the ghosts.”
Things attributed to the ghosts include
hearing footsteps across the floor of the prop
room and attic, and tap dancing on stage,
Miller said. Spirits have been seen in the bal
cony, usually seated in the last few rows.
Before the building’s 1981 renovation,
doors commonly were found open in the
morning even though people carefully ^
closed the doors when leaving at night. IlM
Electrical problems such as lights com- •
ing on without being hooked up have also
been attributed to spirits.
Though incidents attributed to the ghosts
fell off after the renovation, Cover said he
experienced one or two phenomena a year.
*1 believe it likes to stop the elevator be
tween floors,” he said. “I have been trapped
in the elevator several times.”
Cover also said he heard footsteps, while
others reported hearing music when no ra
dios woe on.
He said electrical problems that plague a
practice may actually be blamed on the ghosts
Please see GHOST on 12
Department
heals alter
allegations
By Erin Schulte
Senior Reporter
UNL’s theater department is in the “process
of healing” after learning that a professor had
been accused of sexual harassment at his last
job.
William Grange, a tenured theater professor
who came to the University of Nebraska-Lin
coln in August from Marquette University in
Milwaukee, left Marquette after charges of
sexual harassment woe filed against him by two
students.
No action was taken in court, and Grange
has not commented on the allegations.
Grange said he did'not want to comment on
a recent Daily Nebraskan article about the alle
gations because the “damage has already been
done.”
Tice Miller, chairman of the theater depart
ment, said he was talking to faculty and students
about die incident.
“We’re in die middle of the process of heal
ing," MiDer said«‘''£his is going to take months.”
cifics of whit was being said during meetings
with students because he feared it would affect
the healing process.
“It would end abruptly,” Miller said.
” % From students he’s talked to, Miller said, it
seemed that attitudes were very optimistic.
“There’s a real positive ‘We want to get on
with it’ (attitude) from the department,” Miller
said. “The residue of this will take several
months to go away, but the department and the
students are really functioning.”
For now, Miller said students and faculty just
plan to charge ahead with plans.
“We’re not letting this interfere with our
plays and classes and getting on with our work.”
Miller said no plans had been made to change
hiring practices and that hiring policy changes
at the theater department would come from
changes in universitywide policy.
