From the ghost stories of Fountain Hall, to Clarence the tortoise’s mysterious origins and snow skiing courses on campus, Moorpark College’s campus has its fair share of oddities. Theatre Arts’ new podcast, “The Curious History of Moorpark College,” explores these themes and takes students through an auditory recount of Raider Walk’s abnormal history.
After debuting in the spring 2024 Student One Acts, the podcast is now available for listening on Spotify, with more episodes to come next semester.
The two Theatre Arts students behind the broadcast, Anna Belle Sanders and Jana Scott, were both appointed by professor Suzanne Fagan earlier this year. Despite never previously working in audio production, the pair teamed up with the Film, Television & Media Arts department and history faculty members to produce four fascinating episodes.
The first two episodes of the podcast, “Ghost of Fountain Hall,” features chilling first-hand experiences from the morning custodial staff of Fountain Hall, one of the oldest buildings on campus and home to numerous student resources. To keep their identities anonymous, Theatre Arts students have filled in as voice actors for this segment.
One by one, the actors take the listeners alongside the custodial staff’s 4 a.m. shifts maintaining the building, noting the unexplainable experiences that come with it.
“In the morning, the building starts to groan, like the pipes and everything, like it’s waking up. It’s almost as if the building is possessed, and no other building on campus does that,” an unnamed custodian said.
With eerie theremin music by Moorpark College student Josh Mercer playing throughout the segment, the stories of these mysterious circumstances are sure to interest students. Scott, who interviewed the custodial staff alongside Fagan and Sanders, shared the most notable part of the process.
“All of it was interesting, the weird experiences of the custodians,” Scott said. “It’s not just one person saying this place is haunted, they’re all kind of confirming each thing.”
The podcast’s second theme puts the spotlight on Clarence, The Teaching Zoo at Moorpark College’s oldest resident.
Sanders and Scott sat down with Alisa Behar from the zoo’s Animal Care and Training Program to discuss the 101-year-old’s rich history in the FTMA recording studio. Sanders, who headed the audio recording and editing process for the podcast, voiced the nerves that accompanied live interviews.
“I feel like one of our biggest challenges was our worries about recording the interviews, since we don’t want to do multiple takes and want to keep the realness,” Sanders said.
Despite these concerns, the trio’s conversations flowed organically, and listeners can look forward to hearing about Clarence’s origin story, his numerous celebrity encounters and much more.
Back in the ’80s, when physical education courses were required for all students at Moorpark College, snow skiing classes were once offered on campus for credit.
The fourth podcast episode dives into the unconventional class with Moorpark College alum Kathee Vasquez, who participated in the course twice.
“It was probably about a 50-foot-long concrete slope with AstroTurf on it,” Vasquez said. “Think of stairs, but no indentations.”
The slope was located adjacent to the library before its construction began in 2002. In the five-minute episode, Vasquez shares more about the equipment used, injuries and the surprising final exam students took.
With Sanders transferring to a four-year university in the fall, Scott plans to continue pursuing these segments with assistance from Reece Oliver at FTMA, a driving force in the production of the podcast.
“I would love to keep doing this. We have some ideas, but I’m not going to divulge them yet,” Scott shared.
Those interested in tuning in to “The Curious History of Moorpark College” podcast can listen exclusively on Spotify. To learn more about the Moorpark College Theatre Arts department and their upcoming auditions for “Jesus Christ Superstar,” click here.
