Gracie Jensen, Special to The Denisonian
Every campus seems to have the person everyone recognizes but few really know. At Denison, it’s “the rollerblading dude,” gliding between classes with wireless headphones, a backpack bouncing with each turn and a speed that defies the morning rush.
Taran Taylor ‘29 has been rollerblading since he was five. After his mom bought him his first pair of skates, he practiced constantly and kept improving. By the time he reached high school, he was confident enough to start skating regularly on campus.
“I honestly loved it. I kept skating and skating and skating. I got serious until high school where I brought my skates on campus,” Taylor said.
For Taylor, skating around campus was just a regular thing; the people at his high school knew he skated, so it wasn’t a big deal- it helped him get to places faster and he had fun while doing it. But when he came to Denison, it was a surprise to other students to see someone skating around campus.
“To me, it’s not a big deal. It’s my form of transportation to get around school, but to others they may take it as something interesting,” Taylor said.
When Aaryan Atreya ‘28 first saw him, he couldn’t believe it. “Everyone walks on campus,” he said. “I’ve never seen anyone rollerblading before. I get cycling or scooters, but rollerskating?”
Atreya wasn’t the only one. As Taylor kept skating from class to class, more students started to notice him, pointing him out to friends or doing a double take when he cruised by. What was just his normal way of getting around slowly turned into something people talked about. For Fair Smelko ‘29, Taylor’s rollerblading is nothing short of impressive.
“I’m always kind of amazed. And he’s usually in professional-looking outfits, and then he’s rollerblading, so just a funny contrast,” she said.
For students, seeing “the rollerblading dude” is something that brings excitement to the day.
“I think campus life is kind of boring during the day. Everyone kind of looks depressed walking to class, and then you just see him and it’s like a way to brighten your day,” Smelko said.
For many students, seeing Taylor isn’t just entertaining, it’s a reminder of how unique campus life can be.
“I feel like I see him a lot. He’s always going. I see him like every day,” Danielle Baglieri ‘29 said. “At first it was kind of a little surprising, but now it’s kind of just normalized.”
While most people are more used to him skating around campus, Taylor has found that there will still be some fun reactions he gets.
“A lot of people get scared, a lot of people jump, a lot of people scream. I still find it funny,” Taylor said.
Many students remember their first close encounter with him, too.
“He almost wiped me out, so [my first encounter was] very surprising,” Ella Skvor ‘29 said, recalling seeing him fly past for the first time.
As the semester goes on and people settle into their routines, the reactions have shifted, but they haven’t disappeared.
“People now think it’s cool, especially at night when his skates light up. People stop and try to get him to fist bump [them] but sometimes people also get scared because he’ll zoom past and they’ll gasp,” Ridah Abbas ‘29 said.
While Taylor is widely known as “the rollerblading dude,” he never expected any of this attention.
“I didn’t expect to have that big of an impact. My intention is not to cause an impact. I just do it for fun,” Taylor said.
Rollerblading around campus allows people to have a little bit of a brighter day, according to one student.
“When I’m in a slump or down about my day, and I see him skate by on his rollerblades, it makes me happy. When I’m caught up in my head about a test and all the homework I have, I just see him rolling around and it just makes my heart happy,” Abbas said.
For Taylor, the best part about being a “campus celebrity” is the people he has met. “I wouldn’t know the amount of people I know now if I didn’t skate. It’s allowed me to meet people more quickly,” Taylor said.
While not everyone who sees him stops to talk or gets the chance to know him personally, many students still see him as someone they’d want to be around.
“I feel like he’d be really cool, but he’s really quiet,” Baglieri said.
She isn’t the only one who thinks he gives off a kind energy.
“He seems super sweet, in some interactions I’ve seen,” Smelko said.
Taylor hopes students have this impression of him. “I hope they remember me as a kind-hearted soul, not annoying, not agitating,” he said.
Taylor, knowing that he’s a “campus celebrity,” has also decided to use it to his advantage, by creating a side business of delivering food to people.
“If you ever need something from Slayter, Slivy’s, or the Nest, I do deliveries,” Taylor said. He explained that students usually reach out through Instagram or by text. “I can ask them to DM me so I can give them my number separately. I wouldn’t want to post it because I know there’s probably some people that would troll around,” he said.
Once students message him, the system is simple. “You can text me your order number, your dorm number, or room number. I’m willing to come up and knock on your door and give it to you straight out,” Taylor said. Pricing depends on distance: Slivy’s runs $2–$3, and trips to Slayter work the same way.
“If you’re closer, it’s $2. If you’re farther, it’s $3,” he said.
And while everyone else sees him as “the rollerblading dude,” Taylor doesn’t think of himself as anything special, just a guy getting to class a little faster, and enjoying something he loves to do.
“If I didn’t skate, my life would be a lot different,” Taylor said. As many students have said, campus feels a little brighter because he does.