Most of DU’s incoming first-year students are 18 years old, which means they were likely born in 1993. Sharing their birth year are a trio of kid TV actors: Angus Jones of “Two and a Half Men,” Taylor Momsen of “Gossip Girl” and Miranda Cosgrove of “iCarly.”
Top movies in 1993 included Jurassic Park, Mrs. Doubtfire and Oscar fave Schindler’s List. It was a big year for musical debuts — Tool, Radiohead, Liz Phair, Collective Soul and Counting Crows all released their first albums in 1993. In the rap world, Snoop Dogg (then known as Snoop Doggy Dogg) released his debut, Doggystyle, Wu-Tang Clan debuted with Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) and A Tribe Called Quest released its third album, Midnight Marauders.
It was a big year for decade-defining events as well: On Jan. 20, Bill Clinton was sworn in as 42nd President of the United States; on Dec. 8, he signed into law the North American Free Trade Agreement. In February, terrorists detonated a van bomb parked below the north tower of the World Trade Center, killing six and injuring more than 1,000. Also in February, federal agents raided the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, with a warrant to arrest leader David Koresh on federal firearms violations. After a 51-day standoff, the compound went up in flames; the fire killed 76 people, including Koresh.
The world was a different place in 1993, and so was the University of Denver campus. The Ritchie Center, the Newman Center and the Daniels College of Business building had yet to be built, and the Lamont School of Music was across town at DU’s Park Hill Campus, along with the Women’s College and the College of Law.
Nelson Hall and Nagel Hall didn’t exist in 1993 either, but Science Hall and the Field House Arena were still standing.
DU students did a lot less traveling in 1993, as the Cherrington Global Scholars Program hadn’t yet been created. Neither had the Partners in Scholarship (PINS) program.
Although it was wildly popular with fans, the hockey team wasn’t quite the success it is today. Head Coach George Gwozdecky came to DU in 1994 and led the team to back-to-back NCAA championships in 2004 and 2005, the team’s first such wins since the late 1960s. Cheering them on in the old DU Arena was Denver Boone, the Pioneer mascot that was officially retired in 1998 but still makes regular appearances on campus.
DU also had a varsity baseball team in 1993 — it played on a diamond next to Centennial Towers, where the Cable Center is now located.
The city of Denver was a different place in the early 1990s as well: Denver International Airport was years from being completed, LoDo was a seedy part of town known more for its flophouses than its hip nightspots, and light rail was still a year away.
And though Coors Field was still in the works in 1992, the Colorado Rockies played their first home game on April 9, 1993 — in the old Mile High Stadium. The Rockies’ first game at Coors Field was in April 1995.