His khaki hat, embroidered with "1917" in red, sits on a stack of books and papers. Beside the makeshift bookshelf is a dining room table cluttered with photographs, a copy of The Star-Ledger and several dozen birthday cards.
His family hopes to collect 110 cards to commemorate his 110th birthday.
Oct. 13 marked Walter H. Seward's 10th year of being a centenarian. Not only has he lived during three centuries, he is also Rutgers College's oldest living alumnus.
Seward has attended all but six annual class reunions and does not plan on missing one anytime soon.
"I was always glad I went to Rutgers," Seward said. "When I went to college, it was an institution by itself - it's different today."
Seward, who graduated in 1917, is a living testament to Rutgers tradition.
"[Football] was the main game," said Seward, who was responsible for taking tickets and ushering at games.
Seward was an avid fan of Rutgers football and remembered watching Paul Robeson playing for the team.
Paul Robeson, born in 1898, was the first black football player at the University. The cultural center on Busch campus was established and named in his honor in 1969.
"He was very smart and everybody liked him," Seward said. "He was a junior when I was a senior."
But Seward did not have much time for fun. He could not play sports or join a fraternity because he had to work to pay his tuition, which was about $100, he said.
Although he received a scholarship to attend the University in 1913, the money was not sufficient. Seward worked as a news messenger for the Daily Home News. He delivered local and college news to be published in half a dozen newspapers in New York City.
Everyday he made the 30-minute commute by steam train. The fare cost him less than $1.
He said he made $1 a day and received tips from the newspapers since he was a favorite employee.
Seward's favorite professor was Austin Scott. "He was known around campus as Scotty," he said.
Scott, who served as president from 1891 to 1906, was Seward's history teacher during Seward's junior and senior years.
"He seemed to understand the class and made his course interesting," he said.
Scott Hall, named after Austin Scott, was erected in 1963 at 43 College Ave.
In regard to Scott, Seward said in his 1978 autobiography, "It is the personality of the man who gives [the class], that influences our lives, more than the subject he teaches."
While at the University, Seward and Scott were involved in civic affairs and local politics.
Seward's classes were in Old Queens and Van Nest Hall on the College Avenue campus, two buildings that switched their use from academic to administrative use years ago. He remembers taking German, Latin, English, politics and American history courses.
Seward lived on the fourth floor in Winants Hall - it is now the home of the Alumni Foundation administrative offices - on the College Avenue campus with one roommate. Seward ate his meals in a dining hall in the same building as his residence hall. "The food was pretty good," he said.
The president of the University at the time was William Henry Steele Demarest, after whom a residence hall on the College Avenue campus is now named.
Seward said there were no long-term school recesses, but students had a week or two off around winter holidays. During these times he went home to his family in Vineland.
Since Rutgers accepted only male students at the time, Seward met girls through church. He attended services every Sunday at the Presbyterian Church on College Avenue.
Although Seward socialized through church programs, "I didn't have any money to take girls out," he said, laughing.
After attending Rutgers, Seward went to Harvard Law School and practiced law through his 90s.
He married his wife Betty while in his 50s and has two children and two grandsons. His wife passed away about five years ago.
Beneath his red Rutgers visor, Seward still has a full head of white hair. His seven-year-old grandson, with pumpkin-colored hair and freckles, resembles what Seward looked like in his youth.
When asked what advice he would give to students attending Rutgers, Seward said, "I certainly wouldn't tell them to take it easy, but to employ their time studying."
He will be officially honored for his 110th birthday Sunday with a classical music concert.
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