I believe there is a large and historic cemetery right in the middle of Yale with many famous characters.
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There is a small and old cemetery right in the middle of campus at Wesleyan (at the top of Foss Hill). It is in great shape considering its age and location - I have yet to see anyone walk through it, and it is near dorms, finds itself on the path of many students coming and going, and is not gated off. It blends in a bit, believe it or not.
@circuitrider will know more, but I believe some of Wesleyan’s first presidents are buried in it along with other important figures in the school’s history, including a formerly enslaved woman. Formerly Enslaved Woman Honored at 1820 Gravesite
The much larger Indian Hill cemetery, which also has some historical significance, is right next door and shares a border with the Wesleyan campus. It has a very cool old brownstone chapel that was built in the style of some of Wes’ old gothic buildings, as well as some really old and beautiful head stones. But the one above that sits on campus is my favorite, perhaps because of how well it has stood the test of time despite the eons of students walking by and around it.
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It’s one of the best kept secrets of the Wesleyan campus. You’re right; unless you know where to look, it just blends into the mainly brownstone background. When the ashes of its 13th president were interred not long ago without fanfare, under a limestone marker, I remarked to his widow how closely it matched the arts center he fought so hard to complete. Her immediate response was, “I should hope so!”
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Yes, the Grove Street Cemetery. It is considered an historically important cemetery as it was one of the first on the modern model in that it was open to the general public, with family-owned plots, avenues, permanent large memorials, and so on.
It also has what I consider to be a very cool example of Egyptian Revival architecture in the form of its entrance gate from 1845:
Of course you can see a lot of Egyptian Revival in US cemeteries . . . it was pretty popular for a long period, starting with Napoleon in the 1830s through King Tut in the 1920s.
There is also a very old joke about the inscription, The Dead Shall Be Raised. Supposedly a Yale President once quipped something like, “They surely will be, if Yale ever needs the land.”
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Going to Chapel Hill next weekend with D26, will be sure to check it out! Thanks for the heads up 
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The cemetery is very cool and contemplative. There are graves that date back to the early 1800s. The cemetery is on the National Register of Historic Places.
If you like spooky things, if you go down the street nearby, Gimghoul Rd off Country Club Rd, opposite the entrance to Playmakers there is a small castle, Gimghoul Castle, at the end of the road. It is used by The Order of The Gimghoul, one of the secret societies at UNC. There is a ghost story associated with it involving a duel and lovers. Peter Dromgoole is the ghost in question I believe. The neighborhood is full of hundred year old houses and is lovely in the spring with the flowers blooming.
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That was attributed to Kingman Brewster— such an appropriate first name
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Dartmouth also has a cemetery on campus
Harvard has one right across from a main entrance
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I remember touring Boston’s Granary Burying Ground where the guide told us, “Here is where many of the patriots are buried – Revolutionary war era, not football players.” 
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This happened at UGA:
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Isn’t William & Mary the US’s oldest public university?! (seeing lead there…) or they count differently somehow?
William and Mary was not always public so that may be a distinction.
I also see UNC market itself as the oldest public university. I’m not sure the criteria used by each school to claim that title, but I don’t expect either UGA or UNC to give it up any time soon. 
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Williams has a cemetery on campus near one of the more far afield dorms. It’s under trees so it doesn’t stand out, but it’s still in use. Community members rest in peace in College cemetery – The Williams Record
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Who knew? Honestly, I’ve been on a lot of campuses and UNC is the only I noticed.
Weird to me how everyone loves death but - to each their own, of course.
I think, for me, growing up and living in really old (by US standards at least) places, there are just old cemeteries everywhere, so I don’t even notice / register it as that unusual. If there is an old chapel/ old stone building (like my mental model of a college!) there will be often be a small cemetery. There are often paths to cut through from place to place, people walk their dogs in them, etc.
Mt. Auburn Cemetery, was in fact, a precursor to the US park movement - » Mt. Auburn Cemetery and the American Parks and Garden Movement THE SHELF Mount Auburn Cemetery - Wikipedia
People still go there and walk around or go to concerts
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When I go to the grocery store, I pass a local one and I’m always weirded out. Just me I guess.
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I’d say for me it is more about loving stories, and cemeteries are places a lot of stories are being told in interesting ways. Those stories have ends, but there is actually a lot about the lives too.
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There was an overgrown field a few blocks from my house… nothing particularly significant about it- some old trees and vines, a few big boulders. An enterprising boy scout troupe researched the field and discovered that it had been a burial ground (post revolutionary war…. so 1790’s-1850’s or so. It was just a scrambled and tangled mess of invasive plants.
They cleaned it up as part of a multi-year Eagle project and it is breathtaking. Simple carvings and lovely inscriptions, the troupe had to reset the gravestones that had fallen over but they enlisted help from the local historical society and an archaeologist; you can’t walk or bike past it without feeling moved.
They tried to identify survivors– couldn’t find any, but many of the graves are of young children– I guess the smallpox, TB epidemics of those years took a toll.
It’s really a place of beauty.
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UNC for sure! UNC is the oldest public university in the country to open its doors and start teaching classes. Or maybe people in Georgia think just saying you are going to be a university is enough.
The legislature chartered the University of North Carolina in 1789, and construction on the campus in Chapel Hill began in 1793. The university became the first public institution of higher learning in the U.S. to open in 1795 when it completed construction on its first building, Old East, and admitted its first students. Graduating its first class in 1798, UNC was the only public institution to confer degrees in the 18th century.
William & Mary did not become public until continued financial troubles forced it to accept funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia beginning in 1906.
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Talk about a great story! Thanks for sharing.
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