Black Cats and Bobcats: Four Superstitions at Ohio University

Jamie Clarkson

With spooky season sweeping into Athens, Bobcats are looking out for good and bad luck on every corner of campus. Whether it’s a sentient painting, or a cursed copper seal, here are some of Ohio University’s home-brewed superstitions. 

Photos by Jamie Clarkson

Watch your step!

College Gateway is an Athens landmark, known for its beautiful flowers , picturesque red bricks and stone engraving honoring the establishment of the Northwest Ordinance, which allowed Ohio University to lay its roots in Athens. Underneath the gate lies a copper replica of the Great Seal of the State of Ohio. Passer-bys may not think twice about stepping on the seal, the superstitious bobcats will walk around it. Legend has it that students who step on the seal may not graduate.

While it may not prevent students from graduating altogether, that bad luck may hold them back a year or two. Kennedy Griggs, a fifth-year senior studying Child and Family Studies, says that she stepped on the seal during a welcome tour during her freshman year.

“Literally everyone except me avoided stepping on the state of Ohio seal,” Griggs says. “Would I say that I believe in the superstition of not graduating on time if you step on the seal? I would definitely believe it. Everyone in that group graduated a year ago.”

From the Green to the altar

Nestled underneath the swaying elms of College Green, at the intersection of four brick walkways, lies the kissing circle. Beginning in the 1940s, students have a tradition that if a man and a woman passed the intersection at the same time, they would kiss. Some students would gather at the spot to paint messages or their sorority and fraternity letters. This continued throughout the 1960s until this kissing circle graffiti started to pop up across College Green. 

However, the spot never lost its charm and the class of 2005 dedicated a plaque for the circle. While the old tradition has died out, new Bobcats have their own superstitions. Nowadays, students say that if a couple kisses at this spot, they will be in love forever.

  Hey there, Irma

In 1913, Irma Voigt was named the first Dean of Women at Ohio University. In her 36 years at OU, she was beloved among many of her students as a mentor, teacher and caregiver. Voigt left such an impact on the university that in 1959, a dorm was erected in her honor. 

Voigt hall houses a portrait of Irma Voigt herself. Graduate resident director Molly Kleman says that according to resident legend, residents should greet Voigt’s portrait so that she will watch over them.

Everybody nose E.W. Scripps

E.W. Scripps was an early 20th century newspaper publisher and the namesake of Ohio University’s college of communication and school of journalism. In Schoonover Center, outside of the Scripps School of Journalism, sits a bronze bust of Scripps himself. Journalism students stop by the bust before an exam or a major assignment to rub Scripps’ nose for good luck. 

Evann Figueroa, a journalism school graduate, says that rubbing E.W. Scripps’ nose helped her through one of her most difficult journalism classes. “I heard the myth and I was like, might as well,” Figueroa says. “Before every hard day, I was like alright, here we go. I survived that class with a B plus. So I think he worked out.”