Unless somebody was in my major AND in a small 'precept' or upper level seminar with me, I wouldn't know them and they wouldn't know me.
Most of my college friends were on the fencing or riding teams, the Sherlock Holmes Society, or in my dorm. I didn't run for any student government offices, belong to an eating club, or otherwise concern myself with campus issues.
But I can still think of 5-10 people who probably remember me, several of whom I've kept in touch with over the years.
I was a TA at a major university in the Spring of 1970. Had three sections so a little over 100 students. At the end of the quarter, a student asked me to give him a passing grade to keep his scholarship. He had a 50 average and never came to class. He claimed to come to class. He didn't. Why did I know? He was the only black in those three classes. Do you think that at an Ivy league school in the early 80’s that you would notice a black on campus?
If no one can remember him, a black, at a lily white university, then maybe he was never there.