Elizabethtown College has underground tunnels connecting many of the academic buildings and some of the residential halls. One of the passages connect the two sections of Ober. Some of the exits of the tunnels can be found in Niccary, Royer and other places around campus. After years of being closed, the College has finally listened to the student body and decided to reopen the tunnels. They will officially open April 1.
The College chose to reopen the tunnels due to initially students being outraged when they were set to close. As a result, the leaders of the College found it was unnecessarily closed and the tunnels should reopen for the students. “[Administration] are rewriting past wrongs and reopening it,” High Library archivist Rachel Grove-Rohrbaugh said via Zoom.
The tunnels have long been a mystery for the campus and the students. However, the anticipation of their opening has been getting around and everyone has a different feeling about it. “I’m scared. I don’t know what’s in there. I’m worried about the students and what we are going to find out. It’s been a long time since [the tunnels] have been open and there’s a lot of unanswered questions,” said Grove-Rohrbaugh.
“I’m really excited! I love exploring. The tunnels are especially helpful during the winter weather to get to classes without having to go outside,” sophomore Breanna Hoffman said.
Hoffman, like many students, was not aware the College even had tunnels until it was announced they would be reopening to the students.
Tunnels and underground passages are often used in movies for various things, so there is no doubt why the ones at the College have such mysteries about them. The tunnels likely are holding “school secrets that [administration] don’t want uncovered. I was going with bones of students who did not graduate and are now haunting the school. Opening the tunnels will free the souls. As they exit the tunnels, the College can hand them diplomas,” Hoffman said.
Opening the tunnels would require the hidden secrets Hoffman discussed be unveiled to the public with no other place to put the secrets. She suggested the bones and documents be stored in the High Library’s archives for safekeeping, but students and staff would need to know of the secrets at that point.
Each individual can gain different benefits from the underground passages opening again. For Hoffman, it is to stay warm in the winter in walking to classes. “I’m always trying to reduce my sun exposure and use less sunscreen, so with the tunnels I can stay inside and stay safe,” said Grove-Rohrbaugh.
Reducing the amount of sunscreen used would also reduce resources used in making sunscreen and help the environment on a small scale. Still, though, every little aspect makes a difference.
Hoffman and Grove-Rohrbaugh agreed the benefits of reopening the tunnels far outweigh the risks involved in unlocking the sealed doors.
“We just don’t know what’s in [the tunnels]. It may seem like a good idea now, but when we find out what is in there, we might regret all of this,” Grove-Rohrbaugh said via Zoom.
