“Sensual” isn’t the first word that comes to mind when thinking of Seminary Hall, the oldest building at Northeastern State University and center of its campus.

But Dr. Carl Farinelli invites visitors to savor all five senses when touring Seminary Hall – and possibly a sixth sense, invoking the school’s spirit and feeling of heritage.

On Friday, students videotaped Farinelli conducting what he calls a “walkabout tour” of Seminary Hall. The finished video, with input from other experts on the University and its history, will be a valuable tool for the NSU Foundation, said Penny Moore, annual fund coordinator in the development department. The video will be a part of NSU’s centennial celebration.

Moore plans to ask local historian and educator Beth Herrington and C.F. Parker, longtime professor, to add their reminiscences to the video.

Farinelli also suggesting adding videos of the late Jake Chanate drumming and telling native stories.

“In 2002, when I was a graduate student, Dr. Farinelli gave me and a couple of other students the tour,” Moore said

“I always wanted to get it on film. It’s a great marketing tool.”

Farinelli beguiled a few listeners on a cold, blustery afternoon as he led them around the historic structure.

“I came here in 1988. Guess which year I bought this umbrella?” he said, waving a collapsible bumbershoot in NSU green and white, the white part somewhat yellowed. “Guess they made them better then.”

The tour guide, now a professor of educational foundations and leadership, began his tour at the arch on the south side of Seminary Hall. He had just come to NSU when it was dedicated, highlighted by a speech from Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Wilma Mankiller.

“I started out on the right foot here. I really was hit full force with the spirit of NSU,” he said.

Over the years, he’s heard many legends about Seminary Hall and the campus, some factual, some myth.

“Being a literary person, it didn’t really bother me if it was true or not,” he said. “Everything I’m going to ask you to think about today has a deeper, hidden truth.”

The tour group stood outside Seminary Hall’s main entrance, flanked by the conical towers that housed the offices of legendary professors.

“You know, this was all ivy covered at one time. This was considered kind of the Ivy League of Oklahoma,” Farinelli said. “One book referred to it as the Athens of the west.”