From Tusculumnus, March, 1998

In the November [1997] issue of Tusculumnus, a call for stories was issued to all alumni who might tell a story about stealing the bell. In the weeks following publication, a collection of stories trickled into McCormick Hall by mail and e-mail. Some messages were furtive. "Has the statue of limitations expired from the '75 disappearance?" asked one reader. "Reply to this mailbox. The Electrician," [s]he wrote. Others had other stories associated with the prank. Karl Juelch ’53 wrote, "As many other students, past and present, I received financial aid in the form of a job on campus. It was my job to ring the bell signalling the start of the day, mealtime and the change of classes. Getting up early, I would trudge to McCormick Hall, enter and proceed to the base of the tower. Positioning my hardly awake body to put the bell in motion, I would grab the rope and pull. With a lack of resistance, and literally falling to the floor under a cascade of descending rope, I knew the bell was gone and I could sleep later the next day. I declined to participate in the subsequent hunt for the bell"

One contributor who did not claim responsibility wrote, "I have been told that in the late 60's the bell was secure in McCormick Bell tower, steel bars were bolted across the access door. Over the course of several evenings the bars were cut and the bell removed to a safe place. The Board of Trustees was having its annual meeting and one point of concern was the bell. Then a member kicked something hard under the table and it rang. The trustees carried the bell out of McCormick on their shoulders while ringing the bell. The bell was replaced in the tower." (Ted Flood ’68).

But two stories emerged that provide bookends to the tale of stealing the bell. The first is from the fifties and is an account of two freshmen who claim to have been forced to steal the bell by surly upperclassmen. The second–perhaps the last known bell-stealing incident–is an account of a senior whose exploits were a kind of capstone experience. Perhaps these stories are not the end after all. Judging from the correspondence received in the Tusculumnus editorial office (across the hall from the belltower steps) no woman will admit to stealing the bell. Yet a reliable source has noted that one group of women stole the bell sometime in the late fifties – appropriating what had been a male prerogative. Did you steal the bell?

A Capstone Experience

It all started one night in Katherine Hall in the Spring of 1990 while Mike Sledzinski (Sledge) and I were hanging out in the dorm wallowing in our regal senior status. After covering a number of the current campus issues, we found ourselves on the topic of the bell. We agreed that taking the bell was the thing to do – not because we needed a big brass bell, but because our senses of tradition demanded it.

Shortly thereafter on a Friday afternoon, about an hour before McCormick Hall was to close for the weekend, Sledge and I went up to the third floor of McCormick, opened the bell tower door with a key I had somehow acquired, and made our way up to the bell. The bell had one main bolt and nut that held it in place. Removal of that one bolt and nut allowed for the taking of the bell. However, beyond the nut toward the end of the bolt, there were a number of spot-welds which prohibited removal of the nut We agreed that there was no sense in having a few spot welds stand in the way of us and the bell.

With a hacksaw blade (that I still have), we sawed off the end of the bolt which had the spot welds on it. The nut could now be removed. [Having prepared the way to take the bell] we left McCormick Hall and unlocked a window on the way out.

The next day, very early on that Saturday morning, Sledge boosted me through the window of McCormick Hall (the window we had unlocked the day before) and I let him in the front door. We quietly proceeded to the third floor of the building and climbed the stairs of the bell tower. Upon reaching the bell, we took off the now-removable nut. We slowly lifted the bell, relieving pressure from the single bolt which held the bell. As the bell came free, our eyebrows hit our hairline. We quietly celebrated but knew our task was far from complete. With the bell in tow, we slowly made our way down to the first floor.

The sun was up by now. We still had to get the bell out of the building and to a safe place–in broad daylight. We covered our heavy trophy with a blanket and, each grabbing a side, quickly walked to Virginia Hall with the concealed bell. Fortunately, we did this unnoticed. One of us opened a window we had unlocked the night before, crawled through, and opened the side door giving us entry to building. We made our way with the bell up to the second floor and hid the bell in a closet of one of the rooms.

We gave each other our word that nothing would be said to anyone about the heist. Of course, that next week the bell was the talk of the campus. While the accusations were being bandied about, both Sledge and I very much enjoyed watching the fingerpointing.

As President of the Student Body, I often met with President Knott in his office about various campus issues. During a meeting soon after the heist, Dr. Knott asked me what I thought about the bell being stolen. I told him that I felt it was a great campus tradition and that I was sure it would soon be returned. I was disheartened to hear him say that he was planning to issue a letter to all students requesting that the bell be returned. I was disappointed because I knew that, as President Knott said those words, a note to the Dean of Students waited in campus mail which told the location of the hidden bell. If only I had waited to give the letter to the Dean! I've always thought that letter from the President to all students would have been a mighty fine souvenir.

Ben Kalny ’90

Those Hazing Days

As you may recall, in 1942 hazing was still a big part of the "Freshmen Experience." Extremely gullible, reluctant to offend, but most of all most willing to honor tradition, we were the perfect dupes for the so called "much wiser and elite" upper classmen. They came into our room in Rankin Hall to give us the good news. My roommate, Lou Kinsky and I, along with two other Freshman had been chosen to be the official Bell Stealers for the Year. They explained that this was an honor that could not be refused. Most important of all, It was vital that we beat the Chosen men of Craig Hall to the task.

The plan was a well conceived one. The time was two o'clock in the morning. Necessary materials were an ordinary butter knife to slide behind the door latch on the door to the stairway leading to the Belfry. Important too was some cloth to wrap around the clapper and some twine to tie it down. Oh yes, pliers to unloosen the nut from the bolt that held the bell in place.

Getting up to the Belfry was a snap. Unfastening the bell also did not pose any problems, but it seemed to be quite awkward for four young men to carry the bell down the narrow stairway. I then very regretfully remember saying to the others, "It's not too heavy. Just put it on my back." They did and I slowly sunk to my knees shouting, "Get it off. Get it off."

It was indeed a struggle to get it down the narrow stairway but we persevered. We carried it down past the Science Building and across the Highway to a deserted gasoline station where we covered it up with some pieces of debris left in the station. We didn't have the slightest idea about the havoc we were about to inflict on our fellow students.

Morning came. Breakfast, of course, was a disaster. All first classes suffered the same fate as did the succeeding classes. Since every college activity began and ended with the pealing of the bell, everyone was at a loss without their reliable old friend, the bell.

The President, Mr.Davies, made the announcement of the stolen bell at the morning chapel service amid giggles and laughter. He ended with an impassioned plea to the perpetrators to return the bell immediately. Each day the plea for return became more impassioned until anger surfaced. It took just a threat of expulsion from school from the President for us to write a brief note saying where the bell could be found. We all felt much better after the note was written. At last, the experience had come to an end. Tradition had been served. The deed was done.

But God truly does work in mysterious ways. The next morning Lou Kinsky and I were on our way to Pop's for one of his heated glazed doughnuts when we were approached by two upperclassmen who ordered us to go with them. And, you guessed it,they led us right down to the deserted gas station where we uncovered the bell. We then had to carry it back to the McCormick Building. This time we had to struggle it back up the narrow stairway and re-hang the bell. Another shining example of the phrase, "All good deeds should not go unpunished."

Sincerely,

George Gunza, Jr. ’48

P.S. Lou Kinsky died in the Battle of the Bulge And I am sorry to say I can't remember the names of the other two men who were with us.