The Lore of DU Quiz

From ghost stories to campus conspiracies, test your knowledge of DU’s most legendary tales.

an arrow that points down

Drone photo of the DU campus at sunset

1. What mode of transportation might non-Coloradans think students use to get to class in the winter?

  • Running
  • Biking
  • Skiing
  • Crab-walking

2. How did workers disassemble Evans Chapel when it was moved to its current location in 1958?

  • With a gigantic wrecking ball
  • By hand, brick by singular brick
  • Using state-of-the-art construction equipment

3. True or false: “Hip, hip, hooray!” was coined by a DU graduate.

  • True
  • False

4. Which of DU’s former chancellors insisted on replacing gravel paths on campus with the beautiful winding red brick paths that remain today?

  • Chancellor _______________

5. True or false: The Mary Reed building is haunted.

  • True
  • False

6. When was the last time DU won a football game?

  • 2004
  • 2024
  • 1916
  • 1960

7. True or false: In the year 1919, there was a dynamite blast on DU’s campus.

  • True
  • False

8. The Ritchie Center’s magnificent Williams Bell Tower is made of what material?

  • Gold
  • Copper
  • Wood
  • Concrete

Answers

  1. Skiing! People who don’t know much about DU or Denver might think that the slopes are much closer to campus than they actually are.  
  2. Workers numbered every single piece of the Evans Chapel before painstakingly disassembling and reassembling the building by hand.
  3. False! Legend has it that DU student John Hipp, who walked the stage in 1884, collected his diploma and yelled, “Hip, hip, hooray!”—ostensibly as a nod to his last name. However, the celebratory saying can be traced back to long before the 1880s.
  4. Chancellor Ritchie! He wanted winding paths to evoke the ups and downs of the educational journey.
  5. Not sure! If you think you can prove that Mary Reed is still hanging around the Renaissance Room, let us know!
  6. The last time DU won a football game was 1960—because that’s the last year that DU had a football team.
  7. True! It was part of a long-running rivalry between DU and the Colorado School of Mines. On Nov. 6, 1919, Mines pranksters set off dynamite around DU’s campus before sunrise.
  8. The copper shingles are covered in a thin layer of gold leaf, just like the Colorado State Capitol’s beautiful dome.

How did you do?

0 correct – DU Dropout
You thought DU was in Boulder, didn’t you?
1-2 correct – DU Day One
Still figuring out where the library is.
3-4 correct – DU Sophomore-Ish
Knows the fight song... mostly.
5-6 correct – DU Scholar-Ish
Could probably give a campus tour.
7 correct – DU PhD
You bleed crimson and gold.
8 correct – DU Legend
You don’t just know DU—you are DU.

 

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