History & local legend
Old Main at Kutztown University is associated with Mary Snyder, a student who died in 1895 shortly before her graduation. Her name became attached to a friendly presence said to occupy the building's upper floors.
In a 2022 account for The Keystone, Katherine Lovelidge collected reports of cups moving, rooms becoming cold during summer, and music heard when no musician could be found. Those unexplained sounds are distinct from the building's clock-tower music, which plays as part of campus life.
Mary's story also inspired a project beyond ghost hunting. Students researching her discovered her involvement in the Philomathean Literary Society and formed a new organization, the Snyder Society, to revive its interest in writing and campus history. The group has led tours through Old Main's upper floors, bringing together the supernatural stories and the life of the student whose name they preserve.
