A Night at the Old Tri-Delt House

Author's note: This story is a retelling of a ghost story in Jeff Provine's "Campus Ghost of Norman, Oklahoma" in which a student only identified as "Jack" was haunted by a ghost (or maybe multiple ghosts) during renovations on the old Tri-Delta house, which was being used at the time as a boardinghouse (essentially, a dorm). I decided to tell this story as a phone call after the ghost had officially freaked Jack out, so I imagined him running to a phone booth to call his brother James. I changed background colors between the two as they talk so that readers can easily tell who is speaking, and I hope the dialogue keeps this story fast-paced and easy to read.

A little history on the building this story focuses on: In 1926, the Delta Delta Delta chapter at OU bought a house at 700 Elm Avenue, just across the street from campus and near Ellison Hall, the school's infirmary. The Tri-Delts stayed there for three decades before they moved further south to a house on College Street. After that, the original house was sold to the Delta Kappa Epsilon fratenity, who later sold it to a private buyer that used it as a boardinghouse — that's when Jack's story would occur. After it was used as a boardinghouse, it became the Jim Thorpe Multicultural Center, where groups like the Native American Student Association would use it until Jim Thorpe was moved further south on campus.

In 1973, an exorcism took place at the old Tri-Delt house to rid it of the same malevolent spirit that gave Jack a fright during his time at the boardinghouse. The building in which this story takes place was eventually torn down to make room for Zarrow Hall, and maybe that's for the best, given its haunted history.

Photo credit: A photo of one of the phone booths on OU's campus. Web source: Souvenir Chronicles blog

Bibliography:

Provine, Jeff. Campus ghosts of Norman, Oklahoma. The History Press, 2013.