Then and Now

This was the old rec center, which was one of the first buildings on campus and was used for students' recreational activities.

This is the current rec center, which was completed in 2017. Its modern design and state of the art facility give all students a great place to have fun, and houses all of the athletic programs, with a pool, redesigned basketball and volleyball court, and indoor track.

This is the location of where Hays Hall was, which is now New Residence Hall. It is in upperclassmen hall, now.

Old Gym in its current state, which is used as a weight room.

Old gym in the late 1800s.

In 1927, Washington and Jefferson played a basketball game against Bethany College in the Old Gym.

This is a picture of the old gym in its current state. The gym is no longer used for athletic events, and is now a weight room. The glorious tiling remains, and in person, screw holes where the basketball backboard used to be mounted can still be seen.

In this picture, a several students are standing in a half-circle outside of Old Main. Some are looking at papers and appear to be speaking, while a couple share a pack of cigarettes. This was taken from the 1946 yearbook. In Red & Black newspapers from 1946, there were numerous advertisements for cigarettes.

If you look closely at the two center fellows, you can see that instead of sharing a cigarette, they are sharing a "juul". Today, some young adults consume nicotine, in the form of an e-cigarette, such as the juul. Will this seem historically quaint in 50 years?

In this picture, six people are sitting around a fireplace on a weekend night in a fraternity house. Three of them are women and three are men. At the time of the picture being taken, the women could not have been students because W&J was a male-only school.

In the recreation, the three women are in fact students at the college. This shows how both our college and our nationwide society has progressed over the years to achieve a higher degree of gender equality. It is also important to note the location of the photo: the Phi Psi house. Nowadays, we are not aware of fraternities gathering around fireplaces in tuxedos playing trumpets.

In this picture, four males are posing on the steps outside of Lazear, smiling and looking off in the leftward direction. In this photo Lazear was still in use as and academic building, but at this time Lazear is not being used and is off limits.

This picture recreation also shows a deep change in the school’s demographics. The original photograph is of four white male students, while the recreation is of a more diverse group. A friend (Nagendra), who happens to be Indian, helped us to recreate this image. This shows how the school’s demographics have improved immensely in terms of diversity. Just decades ago, it would have been a rarity to see a nonwhite student, but now there are many, with the number increasing each year.

In this picture, you can see a view of Old Main from the law near The Hub. The lawn is neatly trimmed, and there are a few tall trees sparsely distributed throughout the grass.

There are some superficial changes visible: there are some trees in different locations, the picture was recreated in color, the season is different, and the landscaping is more emphasized now. But overall, this picture reflects continuity in the college. Washington & Jefferson’s iconic building, Old Main, has remained largely unchanged in appearance over the past few decades.

In this picture, what is now the Swanson Wellness Center is depicted. At the time of the original picture, the building had a thick covering of moss and leaves. The space was originally a basketball court. Today, the moss and leaves are gone and the space was most recently used as a gym and fitness center.

This reflects a cultural shift since the 1940s because today, a building looking like the Swanson Wellness Center would never be constructed for the purpose of athletics. It has a very rustic appearance, with stone walls, a tile roof, and a steeple-like structure above the main entrance. Gymnasiums today are typically constructed far differently, with space being the main concern over aesthetics.

On the left is Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) Fraternity house, as pictured in the 1963 yearbook. It was located near the center of campus, just across the street from Old Main. Since the ‘60s, all fraternity houses have been moved to “Greek Row” on East Chestnut Street, and Fiji is no longer on campus.

Now, this building has been renamed North Hall. North Hall is an all- male upperclassman dorm. The architectural style appears timeless.

This is the kitchen staff yearbook photo from 1965. They had a small, all-female kitchen staff at the time.

This is a picture of two of the many workers at The Commons, the main dining option on campus. The overall kitchen staff has greatly increased, and now includes both men and women. We now have numerous options in all the campus dining services, including made to order sandwiches and omelets, a wood fired pizza oven, and much more in The Commons alone.

A group of men pose on the stairs in front of Old Main for the 1967 yearbook. All dressed in formal attire.

The 2019 photo features updated steps which are farther away from the building, and separated by a longer walkway. Also, there are women in the picture which is vastly more diverse than the all-male alumni that attended in 1958.

The U. Grant Miller Library, opened in 1969, was the college's second library. Pictured above are several students studying in the library.

The Clark Family Library is in the same building as the U. Grant Miller Library was. The library was renamed after extensive remodeling in 2019. These pictures show a few interesting contrasts. The modern picture shows student in much more casual clothing than the old one does. Also, the modern picture shows female students, while in the '60s the college was an all male institution.

In this picture, the '69 Delts are toting shotguns, steins, and even a bottle of whiskey for their official yearbook photo. At the time nearly everyone on campus was involved in Greek life, which was much wilder than it is today.

There are notably fewer men in the fraternity, suggesting a decline in Greek life and its importance on campus. In the modern picture, the brothers are hoisting a traffic cone, pledge paddles, and a bottle of milk. This shows how much tamer fraternities have become, as well as a changing attitude towards firearms on campus. Currently, all students are banned from having weapons of any kind on campus.

This image was taken in 1980 in front of the first year building Mellon. Between the two images it seems that not much has changed.

This image shows John McMillan Hall during its two-year renovation to restore it to its original 18th-century state. This building is the oldest on campus and the eighth oldest academic building in the United States.

Because John McMillan Hall is on the National Registrar of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of Interior in 1977, not much has been changed. What is noticeable are the window shutters and the amount of plant life that has been added to campus.

The Commons is the cafeteria at W&J and there have been a lot of significant changes.

The renovations that have taken place completely modernized the Commons and it looks completely different. The food served has also changed throughout the last few decades, and is likely healthier with a wider variety of diets. The current Dining Services also has a more sustainable approach to food.

This image shows a student playing pool as well as some arcade games in the back. Not much has changed when it was first opened a few decades ago aside from technology.

The Hub is still a place for students to hang out in the evening and play games but the original arcade games have been taken and replaced with a machine that students can play all sorts of retro games on. Over past summer the Hub was able to get all sorts of new equipment.

Originally known as the U. Grant Miller Library, the Clark Family Library has undergone a lot of changes and renovations.

Freshly renovated in 2018-2019, the library encourages collaborative research and study on both floors. A lot of resources such as technology (i.e. an online library) are offered for students here at W&J. Shown here is Savan Hussein.

The Burnett center started construction in 1999 and was provided as a gift from Dr. and Mrs. P.C. Rossin. The building became open to students in 2001, and named after former WJ President Howard J. Burnett.

The building is recent in terms of how long W&J has been around and it houses the Departments of Economics and Business, Modern Languages, and Education. While being fairly new, it still gives homage to Old Main with the appearance of two towers next to the front door.