C A R I L L O N
B E L L S

10

There are no dons striding across campus in flowing academic robes, and the tomes being studied in the library are as likely to be electronic as printed and bound. But there is the stately chime of carillon bells on the University campus, a ringing on the quarter hour that lends the sound of tradition to the U.

That sound, emanating from the Union, is a welcome addition to the commuter campus. Whit Hollis, director of the Union and instigator of the chiming, says, "We were going to launch it as a big surprise in the fall of 2001, but we had to play it a few times as a test. Almost immediately, people came into our office saying, 'This is great! Where are those bells coming from?'"

Well, for those who cling to the hope that the bells are located in a musty bell tower atop the Union, operated by a wizened campus veteran, read no further. For the rest: "It's run by a computer," says Hollis. "The Union has had the setup for quite a while, but it hadn't been used for about 10 years." Hollis, whose alma mater, the University of Alabama, has carillon bells as the centerpiece of its campus quad, wanted something similar at the U. "I think the sound gives the campus a traditional collegiate feel," he says.

They may be computer generated, but the "bells" have been a hit. "For about three months," says Hollis, "all we heard was, 'These bells are the greatest thing!'" Agreed.