The trauma of the Old Kenyon fire shook the college to its very foundations. Classes were suspended for a week as the campus struggled to deal with the death of nine of its members, and students went into open mourning.

In the wake of the devastation, it was announced that Old Kenyon would be rebuilt "stone by stone and piece by piece" as a nearly exact replica of the dormitory that had been destroyed. Photos of the dormitory were collected to serve as a model for the new building and stones from the original construction were painstakingly salvaged from the ruin and numbered for use in the new structure.

Significantly, however, the one change that was made to the new building was the decision to raise the foundation level some ten inches from the original. This seemingly minor detail would later play a role in the strange tales that would come to center around the new building.

For, as the years have passed, it has become commonly accepted on the campus that the spirits of the nine young men who lost their lives in the fire haunt the "new" Old Kenyon Hall.

One student, who lived for a year in a room that corresponded to that of a young man who had died in the fire, reported waking up one night to hear his closet door shaking, as though someone inside were struggling to escape. At that moment, according to the story, a hallow voice from inside the closet was heard to gasp "Get me out!"

Of course, an inspection of the closet proved it empty.

This story is embellished with the rumor that one of the young men who had died in the fire was found in his closet, where he had retreated from the smoke and flames.

Another student, studying in his room late one night was shocked when he felt someone touch his shoulder and a voice in his ear demanding "What are you doing in my room?" Turning quickly in the direction of the voice, the young man found that he was alone. Still another student who lived on the fourth floor of Kenyon related the experience of being shaken awake late one night and a voice calling out "Ed, wake up…FIRE!" What marks this experience as particularly telling is the fact that while the young man in questions was not named Ed, it is true that one of the students who died in the fire was named Edward Brout.

Other students have reported the shock of being awakened at night be being violently shaken and at least one is said to have been roused from sleep by the feeling of a hand sliding along his pillow.

It is also told that a security guard, checking on Old Kenyon one summer when the dormitory was supposed to be vacant, was surprised to hear the door to an empty room open and close again immediately after his departure. The same security guard later reported to Heather Frost that while visiting one floor of Old Kenyon, he distinctly heard the sound of a shower running in one of the floor bathrooms. Since there was supposed to be no one in the dormitory, he went to the bathroom only to find it empty, except for water splashed on the floor. An even more bizarre event occurred on February 28^th, 1979, the thirtieth anniversary of the catastrophe. According to several reports, on that night, a student in Old Kenyon entered his room to find a single candle burning before a copy of the 1949 College Yearbook. What was even stranger than the fact that door had been locked piror to his entering was the fact that neither the candle nor the yearbook belonged to the person who was staying in the room. Moreover, the yearbook was turned to a "In Memoriam" page, dedicated to those who died in the fire at Old Kenyon.

One of the more intriguing tales told of Old Kenyon has been the sighting of what have been called "legless apparitions."

It is said that on more than a few occasions over the years, students have reported seeing strange figures of men in floating through the hallways of the dormitory late at night. Of course, the sighting of strange young men, in the dress of several decades ago, prowling through the hallways of a modern dormitory at night is enough to raise some question. However, in this case there are two intriguing aspects to these sightings.

First, the young men in question were semi-transparent. Universally, students observing the visits of these figures stated that they could see through them and into the hallway beyond.

Even more extraordinary, however is the fact that these figures were partially legless. Their form, according to reports, began slightly below their knees, which were at the level of the floor. This if seen from above. According to Professor Timothy Shutt, who heard the story from students when he first came to the college some years ago, those viewing the spirits from the floor below were treated to an even more bizarre sight. Writing in the Kenyon Collegian, Shutt related that students unfortunate enough to be beneath the appearance of such a specter were treated to the sight of disembodied calves and feet "hanging like stalagmites" from the ceilings.

These observations caused much wonder and speculation on campus until records of the reconstruction of Old Kenyon were examined, and it was recalled that when the dormitory was rebuilt after the calamitous fire, its level was raised about 10 inches. Thus, it is said that whatever shades were walking the halls of Old Kenyon were doing so on the original floor level, as though walking on floorboards that had long ago been destroyed.