“I never would’ve thought, back when I was a teenager, that I’d be back in 40 years and with grandchildren,” he said. “The notion of 40 years and grandchildren was far, not on my mind.”

Bayn and his grandchildren, 12-year-old Tyler Bayn and 9-year-old KayLee Bayn, spent last Tuesday through Thursday living the college experience — sleeping and eating meals in Holmes Hall and crossing campus to attend classes — as attendees of Grandparents University.

The Bayns were three of 820 grandparents and grandchildren who visited campus last week. Grandchildren ranged from ages 8 to 12. Participants came from 23 states and three countries, said Vicki Essenmacher, an alumni coordinator for the College of Social Science who helped organize the event.

The program, which is in its fourth year of existence, is intended to bring grandparents back to MSU and allow them to share their college experience with their grandchildren, she said.

“Rather than just bringing back old memories, they can create new memories with their grandchildren,” Essenmacher said. “They can also do things like, when they’re walking around campus, they might be showing, not only telling them about what campus was like when they were a student.”

Bob Bayn said he was glad to share the good memories he had from MSU, such as taking his grandchildren back to the dish room where their grandparents met years ago.

“I lived in this dorm and took classes in this dorm and worked in this cafeteria,” he said. “I made them look at the dish room where their grandma and I washed a lot of dishes together before we were married — probably more dishes than when we were married.”

KayLee and Tyler Bayn said they enjoyed their time at MSU and were disappointed to have to leave, though they will be back again.

Twelve-year-old Maddie Burgoyne, another participant, also said her grandpa, 75-year-old Samuel Rudrick, showed her around campus, telling her about his years as a student.

“He’s told us a lot about when he came here and how much it’s changed since he came here, with all the fancy computers,” she said.

“I like walking around and seeing everything and what college is like.”

Rudrick, who has attended Grandparents University for the last three years, said he will continue participating in the event as long as his grandchildren are young enough and his health strong enough, because his grandchildren always come home and say they had a great time.

“Everything focuses on my grandchildren,” he said. “They’re the joy of my life, as are my children. … It’s really for my grandchildren, to see the joy and happiness they have.”