Academy Bell, College Bell, Victory Bell—the University of Delaware bell has had many names over the years. And, if bells could talk, this one could certainly speak volumes about the history and traditions of Delaware.

Purchased in the autumn of 1834, the bell was rung to wake students and summon them to class. Housed in its own framework on the college grounds, the bell was the subject of many student pranks. Stories range from students tying the bell’s clapper to its rim to inverting the bell so it could be filled with water on freezing winter nights to hiding the rope that was used to ring it.

Maybe to prevent access by students or perhaps to fulfill a reference in the original college building’s plans, a cupola was erected in 1852 atop the college’s first building (now Old College). College administrators thought the limited-access belfry would cut down on the number of student pranks, but from 1852 to 1881, the shenanigans continued. Rumor has it that students had a perennial quest to get a cow into the belfry. The design of the stairway and ladder leading up to the cupola prevented it from happening, but students did manage to get a bull to the top of the building’s front steps in June 1854.

Falling on hard times, the college closed its doors from 1859 to 1870, during which time the bell remained silent. When Delaware College reopened for business, the students picked up right where they left off. On April 11, 1873, student James Bush fell from the top of the cupola to the roof of the main building, and then again to the ground below—a total drop of 55 feet. Amazingly, he escaped serious injury.

In 1881, perhaps from overzealous ringing
or repeated freezing and thawing, the college bell developed a crack. It was sent to the Henry McShane Bell Foundry in Baltimore for recasting and was returned later that year.

Sometime around the turn of the century, the bell was replaced by a series of electric class bells. No longer a symbol of annoyance (its use for morning wake-up and call to classes having been discontinued), the bell gradually lost the attention of students.

In 1917, the original college building underwent a major facelift that resulted in the removal of the cupola.

Now homeless, the bell was moved to the basement of the Agricultural Experiment Station (today’s Recitation Hall) and was forgotten. It wasn’t until 1934 that the college bell was rediscovered during planning for the college centenary. An effort was made to put the bell on display for the celebration, but some students decided instead to parade it around campus on the eve of the celebration and ring it throughout the night. The 13 young men responsible were placed on probation and were not permitted to miss a single class for the remainder of the semester. The bell, once retrieved, was moved to Memorial Library, where it again remained silent for many years.

In 1952, the University of Delaware called the bell to service once again, this time as the Victory Bell in the new Delaware Stadium. It is here that the tradition of ringing the bell after a touchdown began.

In 1961, a rusted clapper took the bell out of service once again. Five years would pass before the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity sponsored a restoration of the bell’s clapper as well as a new wooden frame. On Oct. 8, 1966, the bell made its latest debut and has been in service, except for minor maintenance, ever since.

So, on crisp fall afternoons in Delaware Stadium, when you hear the bell toll after yet another Blue Hen score, pause for a moment and think back on its colorful past.

                                      –Jon T. Merryman, AS ’85