Social Life
by Lee Procida
Issue date: 5/1/07 Section: State of UD
It was not quite like your typical cinematic, party-pooper entrance, where out-of-place person walks in, music comes to a screeching halt, and everyone whips around to stare at the unexpected newcomer.
Instead, David P. Roselle's entrance to the party that is the University of Delaware began gradual changes to the social scene here. His work has been substantial, too, because while the university's social scene in the late '80s and early '90s is much mythologized - a ubiquitous myth is that Delaware ranked as a top party school in Playboy or The Princeton Review, when neither publication provided an honorable mention - compared to today's standards, the party Roselle walked in on was a rager.
Stories of massive, double-digit keg block parties, students being dragged on water skis through mud at football games and a campus bar being ranked as one of the best in the country paint a picture of a radically different campus environment. Considering today's party atmosphere, even stories involving underage access to bars, walking around with open containers and fraternities having kegs outdoors are remarkable.
Alumnus Darren Kane, who attended the university from '91 to '95, has made it his job to collect anecdotes from this period detailing life as an undergraduate student. As the creator and operator "DelGrads," a MySpace page specifically for Delaware alumni, he collects stories on nearly every possible aspect of attending the university, and his book, "Glory Days at Delaware: The Completely Unofficial Modern History of College Life in Newark, DE.," will be out this fall. He guessed the university's peak of partying was right around the late '80s or early '90s from the feedback on his MySpace page.
"But I think a lot of the rumors about Delaware being a huge party school stem from nostalgia," Kane said. "When you're a graduating senior or alumnus, you always tell the freshmen or current students how much crazier it was when you were there."
Instead, David P. Roselle's entrance to the party that is the University of Delaware began gradual changes to the social scene here. His work has been substantial, too, because while the university's social scene in the late '80s and early '90s is much mythologized - a ubiquitous myth is that Delaware ranked as a top party school in Playboy or The Princeton Review, when neither publication provided an honorable mention - compared to today's standards, the party Roselle walked in on was a rager.
Stories of massive, double-digit keg block parties, students being dragged on water skis through mud at football games and a campus bar being ranked as one of the best in the country paint a picture of a radically different campus environment. Considering today's party atmosphere, even stories involving underage access to bars, walking around with open containers and fraternities having kegs outdoors are remarkable.
Alumnus Darren Kane, who attended the university from '91 to '95, has made it his job to collect anecdotes from this period detailing life as an undergraduate student. As the creator and operator "DelGrads," a MySpace page specifically for Delaware alumni, he collects stories on nearly every possible aspect of attending the university, and his book, "Glory Days at Delaware: The Completely Unofficial Modern History of College Life in Newark, DE.," will be out this fall. He guessed the university's peak of partying was right around the late '80s or early '90s from the feedback on his MySpace page.
"But I think a lot of the rumors about Delaware being a huge party school stem from nostalgia," Kane said. "When you're a graduating senior or alumnus, you always tell the freshmen or current students how much crazier it was when you were there."
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