Nazareth College (New York) - Traditions and Lore

Traditions and Lore

• Every April, Nazareth students celebrate the year with a festive event called "Spring Fest."
• Oral tradition relates that when Nazareth was still a Catholic women's college, a young nun lived on the fourth floor of Medaille Hall. The story says that she had an affair with a priest, became pregnant, and committed suicide there. Her ghost reportedly still roams Medaille Hall today, which is used as a dorm by the college. In more recent years, Nazareth has hosted an annual "haunted house" event in the dorm for Halloween.
• On the main roadway right before the circle in front of the Golisano Academic Center, there is an English Oak tree. This tree was brought to Nazareth by members of the Sisters of St. Joseph from Sherwood Forest in England. Legend has it that Robin Hood used to hide in the hollowed trunk of an English Oak in Sherwood Forest.
• On the north campus, behind the Golisano Academic Center, a wooded hillside shelters a small cemetery dedicated to the departed pets of the Sisters of St. Joseph who used to inhabit the building. More than a dozen small headstones mark the final resting places of cats, dogs, and even two horses, from Rusty in 1984 (“A good friend”) to Mickey in 2012 (“Loved by All”).
• Above the entrance to Linehan Chapel sits the choir loft. And above that, on the building’s fourth floor, is a small window, now inaccessible to the public. The fourth floor was the infirmary back when the Golisano Academic Center was still the S.S.J. motherhouse, and campus lore has it that the window was opened during Mass so ailing sisters could “attend” the services.