For the typical Hillsdale student, a late night in the library means an upcoming exam or paper. And if you have nothing more important to do than play ping pong in the Grewcock Student Union, you go to bed. But the library and union don’t close until 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. respectively, on weeknights, which means there are always employees around to observe the antics of the Hillsdale witching hour.  

Junior Gavin Listro described a shift in the student union when campus security came in close to 2 a.m. to ask him about a strange man who had been seen prowling around campus.

“I never heard if they found the guy,” Listro said. “It was kind of scary walking back to my dorm that night.”

The library staff have also seen some odd incidents. Sophomore Meredith Vanderweide, who works at the library, watched a student return to the library late one night after realizing it was raining outside, talk to library maintenance staff, and come back with a large back trash bag. 

“He puts it on his head, covers himself and just rips out some eye holes,” Vanderweide said, “like, not even two holes, there was just a singular slit for his eyes.”

The student continued to wander the library for a while, dressed in the trash bag, according to Vanderweide, before leaving for the night. 

Most night shifts, however, are less eventful. 

“Aside from people studying in A.J.’s, the only people left in the student union as 2 a.m. approaches are the cuddling couples,” junior Matt Byrne, who works at the Union desk, said.  

Sometimes, the employees cause chaos. Byrne described a time he and his friends tried to land a volleyball in a trash can outside the dining hall by shooting it over the railings. 

The ramifications of late-night shenanigans are sometimes seen the next morning. Sophomore Maria Birzer recalled opening the library one morning to the terrifying discovery of two students who had spent the night in hell, the bottom floor of the library. 

“They were just lying on the floor sleeping,” Birzer said. “They were sprawled out across the floor,  legs out and everything like it was their bed, on the ground.” 

The students did not wake up while Birzer was there. 

“I had no idea what to do with that,” she said. “I just left them.”

But most late nights are fairly ordinary. Vanderweide expressed mixed feelings about the late shift. 

“It’s good because I’m forced to sit here for a long time, so I get a lot of homework done,” Vanderweide said. “It is entertaining because you get to see things which don’t happen during the day, but usually by 11:30 p.m. the library is mostly empty and you’re starting to go insane.” 

Byrne said he often brings his guitar to these shifts.

 “It’s nice to kind of just mess around with no intention of playing anything for anyone, just me and my guitar,” Byrne said.  

Byrne said he also appreciates the social aspect of his job during the daytime shifts. 

“I always bring homework but none of it ever gets done, during the day shifts at least, because my friends come and talk to me, which I love about my job,” Byrne said.