Secret Scenes at Fox — The Crescent

By: Elijah Dapkus

Photographed by: Yolanda Diaz

If you are a student at George Fox University (GFU), you’ve had ample opportunity to explore the wonderful places around GFU’s Newberg campus. Yet, there are dozens of spots you’ve probably never seen.

Crescent reporters Elijah Dapkus, Isaac Brown and Yolanda Diaz took the roads less traveled as they explored some secret places around campus. This is what they discovered.

Lemmons Center Basement

Affectionately dubbed “Lemmons 0,” this crawl space is a popular attraction for secret room enthusiasts. Some students have set short films there and submitted them to the school’s film festival. There’s even a pen waiting so you can sign your name on the pipes. It has been rumored to connect to Brougher and/or EHS, but unfortunately that’s only hearsay. If you have a dust allergy you should consider avoiding this area, but visiting this basement is a rite of passage for any students with classes in Lemmons Center.

Miller Gymnasium Rock Wall

In one of Wheeler’s back rooms, you can find a rock wall that has since been renovated to function as a closet. It looks like an unfinished GFU project (perhaps once used for training). They didn’t bother to finish taking down the last of the footholds either. If you turn off all the lights visibility drops to zero and you are left wondering whether you might bump into one of the left behind footholds.

Beebe’s First Floor

Beebe Hall is a strange building that probably isn’t up to code. Some especially unusual features are its post office and abandoned first floor. Both are typically locked, but certain students have access to the first floor. The rooms, which served as quarantining chambers for COVID-19 patients during the 2020-21 school year, are vacant, their doors ajar. The first floor of Beebe appears clean, but devoid of belongings. Empty dorms like this one are always eerie sights.

Hess Creek South Storm Drain

Of all the places we made pilgrimage to, this one exceeded expectations. If you follow Hess Creek through the canyon as it flows to the south, you will eventually stumble upon a system of pipes where the creek begins its descent beneath the highway. As you traverse the murky grotto and your shoes swell with water, the world behind grows dim and you rely on your friends’ bravery to motivate your next steps. If you feel adventurous, you can follow the creek all the way to Herbert Hoover Park, or perhaps take a left and try to make a slippery climb up to a manhole beneath the sidewalk. Is it treacherous, disgusting, terrifying, and a downright strange place to spend your time? You bet. But is it fun? I suppose that depends on your attitude. For these reporters, it was incredible.