Looking Back: Opening Day, ‘80s style
With their parents and siblings helping them move in, Mount Saint Mary College’s Class of 2028 will be starting their college careers on Saturday, August 24.
And as seen here, more than 35 years ago, their Class of 1992 counterparts did the same.
When the Mount’s freshmen celebrated Opening Day on September 4, 1988, “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses sat at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, Die Hard was one of the top grossing films of the year, and the sequel to Nintendo’s original Super Mario Bros. game was scheduled to hit shelves in only a few weeks.
Things on campus looked a little different too. The Mount’s current Freshman dorm, Sakac Hall, wouldn’t be built for another 15 years. The Dominican Sisters of Newburgh still lived on-campus in what is now known as the Dominican Center. Not even the Elaine and William Kaplan Recreation Center, opened in 1992, or Hudson Hall, purchased by the college in 1995, would really be a part of the freshman class of 1988’s college experience.
But some things at the Mount will never change. While there’s probably going to be a little less hairspray in the air than in 1988, the sentiment on Opening Day will be the same: excitement, joy, and eagerness to start an academic journey with new, lifelong friends.
