Campus Through Our Eyes
For this special photo essay, we invited DU alumni to return to campus with camera in hand and memories in mind. Each photographer chose a place or scene that holds personal meaning—whether it’s a favorite spot, a reminder of a defining moment, or simply a glimpse of campus beauty. Together, their photos capture how DU shapes lives and connects our community across generations.
The Harper Humanities Garden outside Mary Reed is like a little sanctuary. As a freshman, my philosophy class went outside one day to look at the ripples and vortices as the water in the pond flowed down. It was unlike any class experience I’d ever had! After that, I loved to sit in the Humanities Garden and observe the water and urban wildlife, and contemplate the nature of things.
Mackenzie Clafin (BA ’25)
One of my favorite perks of being a DU student was free entry and rentals for public skate sessions at the Joy Burns Arena. When the timing worked out, I ran across campus to skate in between classes. I miss that midday refresh! The skates were never stacked perfectly, but the chaos was part of the allure.
Madeleine Lebovic (MA ’25)
Sturm Hall’s brick facade, looming over Campus Green, is often remembered as “that building that I had class in.” When I came to DU, originally as a chemistry major, I thought much the same. But walking up the stairs after a communication studies class that I had signed up for to check off a core curriculum requirement, I realized that I wanted to go down a different academic and professional path.
Connor Mokrzycki (BA ’22, MS ’25)
I’d be lying if I said that hockey wasn’t part of the reason I chose to attend DU. My sophomore year, I reached out to the media team about photographing a game. I remember being up in the press booth feeling like I had made it. Every time I photograph a sports event as the official photographer, I can’t help but be thankful that Magness was my launching point.
Stephanie Tyson (BA ’16)
During my time at DU, the Korbel School was my second home. Countless hours were spent here studying, collaborating with classmates, and diving deep into the work that shaped my grad school experience. The Sie building was still being completed, and the excitement of a brand-new facility as a space to learn and gather elevated our experience. Later that year, Madeleine Albright gave a commencement speech here, which was really a special moment!
Rose Groves (MA ’17)
In 1986, I was a doctoral student of poetry and literature, newly married, newly arrived in Denver, newly unmoored. The old English Department offices had bathtubs attached to them. But we were surrounded in this old seminary with stone and wood and the deep mysteries of altars. Of course, I found my way back to the chapel that neighbored us and found not only this window, memory perhaps, but a water lily, too, this day blooming.
Kathryn Winograd (PhD ’89)
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