A group of DePauw students hang over the fence while watching the Old Gold football game on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015.
Deep in the university archives lays the history of Old Gold Day.
“All in all it is expected that this day will be one of the biggest events in the history of the university and the entire faculty and student body seems to be united to lend it every possible leeway,” Said W. W. Carson in the reports of the first Old Gold Day in 1907.
The first Old Gold Day took place under President Edwin Holt Hughes. The day was a place for the freshman and sophomore classes of DePauw to formally compete against each other in a multitude of sporting events such as basketball, football and a “scramble.” The day’s activities were concluded by the final football game of the season between DePauw and Earlham.
After winning the first Old Gold football game, a massive celebration was had across the university with a large bonfire and social reception in the gymnasium.
Old Gold Day has not always followed the same tradition as it does now. In fact, Old Gold Day was typically in conjunction with the football game against Wabash College for the Monon Bell.
Since then, the Monon Bell game and Old Gold have become separate events and Old Gold has now become associated with a homecoming celebration for DePauw. In 1939, the first Old Gold Queen was selected.
“DePauw decided that an event so important as homecoming needed a campus beauty to reign as queen of the occasion,” said the Publicity Office.
Presently, the Old Gold Queen has expanded to a whole Old Gold Court which was crowned at the Gala Friday evening.
More information about the history of Old Gold can be found in our original video compilation on thedepauw.com.