Couples who get married in Sage Chapel may have an uninvited (if welcome) guest: the ghost of Ezra Cornell, who, as the legend goes, rises to bless the marriage as the bride gets ready for the ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sightings of a spectral founder are among the many bits of spooky lore that have been passed down from one Cornellian to another over the past century and a half. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These and other spine-tingling tales<\/a> are the subject of the \u201cHaunted History\u201d walking tours of campus that Corey Earle \u201907, the University\u2019s unofficial historian, gives each October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The tours are just one way that Cornell embraces Halloween\u2014the time of year when McGraw Tower glows orange, thanks to the pumpkin stencils over its clockfaces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And of course, Halloween was the setting for East Hill\u2019s most celebrated prank: the mysterious placement of an actual pumpkin atop the tower\u2019s spire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Each year, Alumni Affairs adds to the festivity by curating a webpage of Halloween goodies<\/a>, dubbed \u201cBig Red frights and delights.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n It includes Cornell-themed pumpkin-carving stencils, including two new ones: a bat-adorned \u201cBig Red\u201d and a bear-y<\/em> scary paw, complete with claw marks. (See a time-lapse video of both being created below!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also on the goodies page is a spooky performance on the Sage Chapel organ (by Michael Plagerman, MFA \u201919), as well as a game where the objective is to get a pumpkin to the top of the tower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/2022_1275_016-1024x576.jpg\")
![\"McGraw](\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/2021_1215_RY_017-A-1024x576.jpg\")