The effort has proven so meaningful, it’s galvanized units across campus — the exhibition represents the work of 65 Blue Hens from 10 departments. 

“This collaboration has been miraculous,” Rujivacharakul said. “The project — like the building itself — had a humble beginning. Now it’s pulled together an entire community.”

Early days

At the turn of the 19th century, UD did not yet exist. Rather, the city was home to the Academy of Newark, a preparatory school for teenage boys. The board members there very much wanted to launch a college and, after years of pleading their case, state officials agreed to charter one. In short order, a new board came together and purchased an empty plot of land at the edge of town, now the west end of Main Street. Charles Bullfinch, architect of the U.S. Capitol, submitted a building design, but it proved cost prohibitive for the fledgling institution. So a prolific lighthouse designer by the name of Winslow Lewis stepped in. He conceived of a Greek temple-esque structure that forever altered a countryside landscape. In 1834, Newark College — precursor to UD — was born. 

This building, known today as Old College, initially housed everything: classrooms, offices, a dining hall and dormitories. While early cohorts were small — the first group of graduates comprised only four young men — they embodied all the academic ambition and youthful moxie of modern-day classes.

“Faculty reports reveal that 18-year-olds are 18-year-olds,” said Lisa Gensel, University archivist who assisted research efforts for the exhibition. “You’ll read things like: ‘The boys need to not imbibe spirituous liquors,’ and: ‘The boys must stop bringing swords to their rooms — I do not care if they want to decorate with them.’”

But these early Blue Hens also faced uniquely 19th century challenges. Consider a journal entry from Joseph Cleaver, a student during the 1850s. He wrote about coming across a young Black man who, having escaped slavery in the south, needed a place to hide. Cleaver and his classmates asked a schoolmaster for permission to take the individual inside Old College. Told no, they snuck the young man into the building’s lumber room anyway and gave him a coat and boots.

“It’s a remarkable entry,” said Theatre Department Chair Steve Tague, who is partnering with colleagues from music and dance to bring these journals to life with an immersive performance during the Old College exhibition. “I find it indicative of the north, of the young, of Blue Hen students, that they gave the young man shelter.” 

Legends and lore

When it comes to stories that reveal the human condition — good, bad and outrageous — Old College is rife. 

It was here that a young man was murdered in the late 1850s: A campus tradition in which senior students lampooned the presentations of younger peers turned deadly when an undergraduate by the name John Roach ended up with a knife in his neck. (It’s a cold case to this day, and some say the building is still haunted by Roach’s ghost.) 

And, in the 1870s and 80s, it was here that campus first flirted with co-education. But the experiment was short-lived for a variety of reasons. It didn’t do much to increase enrollment and—gasp!—a woman became valedictorian. School officials decided to nix the effort for three more decades. 

Old College is also the site of the only “authorized” graffiti on all of UD’s campus. In the walls surrounding the entryway, you’ll notice names carved into the bricks, including the 1900 marking of H. Rodney Sharp, a 16-year-old student who later became a University trustee. He’s the man largely responsible for expansion of campus beyond Old College in the early 1900s, and, today, Sharp Residence Hall bears his name. 

“It’s important for students to recognize they are connected to past and future generations,” said Peter Krawchyk, University architect, head of the team that maintains Old College and a contributor to the exhibition. “This is not a transitory experience, but you really are connected to a whole institution that’s been here for hundreds of years and will be here for hundreds of years more. This building is a physical representation of our collective history.” 

Preserving an icon

For all its significance, Old College nearly met an untimely fate … more than once. In the late 1850s, the building closed its doors due to financial hardship — according to Gensel, the institution had been operating “on $.14 and some pocket lint.” It wasn’t until the passage of the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862, which helped fund a system of public universities in the U.S., that Old College became operational once more. 

But still it wasn’t safe. 

By 1900, Old College had fallen into severe disrepair, and the wrecking ball loomed large. At least, that is, until Sharp and his brother-in-law, education philanthropist Pierre S. du Pont, intervened. The latter reportedly said, “… We shall have many more occasions to put up new buildings, but this is the only old one we have.” This bid for preservation proved successful, and Old College was renovated instead of demolished. 

Today, that spirit of preservation lives on in the Blue Hen community. 

“In so many places, there’s a tendency to just tear everything down,” said Chandra Reedy, director of UD’s Center for Historic Architecture and Design. “In one of my classes, I show a slide of what it looks like to drive from one state to another and not be able to tell the difference, because you’re surrounded by nothing but strip malls. There are some buildings, like Old College, that carry more history and lend more character and uniqueness to a place. The exhibition is one way to make sure we identify those places and prioritize them.” 

To this end, Reedy partnered with Anna Wik, associate professor of landscape architecture, on the creation of an app for the Old College exhibition, a self-guided walking tour of the entire historic district that she hopes will open people’s eyes to the importance of safeguarding landmarks. 

“It’s important to have some places where we’re strongly rooted or connected,” she said. “When things are changing around us all the time, it’s crucial to have a few places that make you feel: I’m home.” 

Celebrating Old College

Like the building itself, the scope of the event is difficult to define. 

“This installation is certainly not a conventional art exhibition,” said Amanda Zehnder, chief curator and head of museums for UD. “I’ve not seen anything like this in my time at the University.”

Part of what makes the project so novel is the mix of offerings: interactive maps, chamber music performances, even a reading room to meditate on all of the dissertations (borrowed from Hugh M. Morris Library) that have been penned in the building over the years. 

But perhaps even more significant is the collaboration this project represents between units. The years-long effort required expertise in the hard sciences — Catherine Matson, conservation scientist at Winterthur Museum and an affiliated assistant professor at UD, spent tedious hours under microscopes and UV light, analyzing paint samples extracted from the building with a 40-foot lift to better understand how its appearance has changed over time. 

And the project required integration of the arts in compelling ways as well. Blažo Kovačević, associate professor of art and design, organized an art show showcasing the paintings, ceramic pieces and installations of eight MFA students who explored their own relationships to Old College for the exhibition.  

“In general, the arts are sometimes treated as decorative,” Kovačević said. “But when you bring talents together to be involved in a more immersive way than, say, creating a backdrop or a poster for an event such as this, you’re not just offering students opportunities for exposure or learning, you’re bringing a community together.” 

Kovačević enlisted colleagues to join the project as well, and that effort led to the aforementioned, improvisational performance planned between the music, dance and theatre departments. 

“Our vision is to do something extraordinarily creative,” said Daniel Stevens, interim director of the School of Music. “We want to break down the barriers between audience and art, so people find themselves in the midst of a performance, rather than passively spectating from the side.” 

It’s a vision possible only, he added, because he and his colleagues highly value these collaborative opportunities.

“When we can all come together and see this building and its history through different disciplinary perspectives and can work to integrate those perspectives in new ways,” he said, “it shows the power of what’s possible in a University setting.” 

Ripple effect

Even before its opening, the exhibition has made its mark. 

Consider Nicholas Fandaros, who earned a degree in art conservation and art history from UD in 2023. He spent a portion of his undergraduate career doing archival research on Old College’s architectural evolution. (Ask him about the addition of a mysterious cupola to the building that went up during a routine roof repair — no one can fully explain why.) The experience helped solidify his future career path — he’s working as a preservation technician for the Central Park Conservancy in New York City.

Now, Fandaros is hoping those attending the Old College exhibition will feel the same sense of pride he felt while engaging with the building’s history. 

“Teaching people the importance of historic structures gives them a sense of ownership, which hopefully leads to the longevity of these spaces so we can continue to enjoy them,” he said, adding: “Old College is the heart of UD.” 

Of course, some still won’t understand. A building is just a building … right? And as the current home of the art conservation and art history departments, as well as UD’s museum division, this isn’t even a building a majority of students or faculty interact with directly on a regular basis. So … what gives? For Blue Hens across disciplines, why is Old College the sun worth exploring in UD’s ever-expanding solar system? 

Allow Rujivacharakul to put it in its simplest terms:

“Maybe we just really like one another,” she said. “And maybe we also really like this building.”

Event info:

The Colors of Old College exhibition will run from Feb. 4 until May 18. Register by visiting: ud.alumniq.com/index.cfm/events:register/home/eventId/9002

The schedule for the opening reception on Tuesday, Feb. 18, is as follows:

• 2:30–3:30 p.m.: Telling Stories with Objects: Curators Connect
• 3:30–4:30 p.m.: Building and Gallery Talks
• 4:30–5 p.m.: Old College Comes to Life: An Immersive Experience of Art, Music, Theatre, and Dance
• 5–6:30 p.m.: Celebratory Reception 
• 6:30–7:30 p.m. Performances: Immersions through Words, Sounds, Dances

Kindly RSVP for each session that you plan to attend. 

This event is free. All alumni, Blue Hen friends and community members are invited to attend.