On Sept. 29, 2001 in front of 3,500 fans, the Wittenberg Tigers defeated the Allegheny Gators 21-17 in one of the most exciting games ever played between the arch rivals. Yet, as the crowd cheered, no victory bell tolled. In fact, the victory bell hasn’t been heard since the renovation of Edwards-Maurer Field in 1993 or before.

The history of Wittenberg’s victory bells — records indicates that there were two — began 65 years ago when Director of Athletics John B. Van Why wanted to start a new tradition at sporting events, one that involved the ringing of a victory bell.

The Boost Wittenberg Association began a search and located a bell, which had “50 years of service and several more of idleness,” according to the Jan. 15, 1937 edition of the Torch. Two freshmen were selected to ring the bell following the first victory.

Unfortunately, Wittenberg was not victorious, and “a Myers Hall prankster lost no time in tolling Wittenberg’s defeat,” the Torch reported.

Until the late 1940s, the victory bell lived a somewhat quiet life until it caught the attention of Robert H. Secrist ’47. According to Secrist’s “confession” in his recent letter to the Wittenberg Magazine, he and cohort Thomas E. Wolford ’47 spirited the bell from the cupola of Myers Hall the day after Halloween in 1948.

The bell was eventually returned to Myers Hall, where students took pride in being the first to ring it. Edwin R. Brigham ’53 recalled his first time on one cold, rainy night in 1951.

“It was sleeting and the housemother (who had the key) was out. I put on my ‘mock-o-socks’ for traction and climbed up the fire escape that was on the west-end of the building. I grabbed onto the lightening rod cable and very slowly and carefully, crawled across the slippery roof to the cupola to ring out the victory.”

Two years later, in October 1953, the Torch reported that the bell was stolen. A $75 reward was offered for “evidence leading to the arrest and conviction” of the thieves. Fortunately, the bell was returned voluntarily during the football game against Marietta, so no charges were filed.

Instead, the unnamed culprits were forced to paint the bell silver. It was then returned to the Myers’ cupola, and the thieves agreed to share their story with the Torch.

According to the newspaper’s account, four men stole the bell between midnight and 2 a.m. on Sept. 30 and carried it down the stairs in plain sight of several hall residents. The men claimed that the bell must have weighed at least 200 pounds.

Unfortunately, after this incident, the bell’s history begins to disappear. Some alumni think the bell atop Myers continued to ring for years. However, it can’t be determined when the Myers bell was replaced by the bell that was escorted to and from the athletic field.

However, according to James F. Walsh ’50, the late William H. Grubbs ’51 donated a bell from his parent’s farm to the Alpha Tau Omegas who for years mistakenly carried the blame for taking the victory bell in 1948. This bell, the ATO bell as it became known, was regularly taken to the 50-yard line where it was rung with each point earned by the Tigers.

Actually, it seems the ATO victory bell enjoyed a well-traveled existence. Charles W. Snyder ’63 remembers a game at Akron University when Robert B. Secrist ’63 apparently drove some of the ATO brothers to Akron with the bell in tow on a trailer.

Fellow ATO Jacob C. Baas ’64 also remembers a story with the bell.  As a pledge, he had to push the bell, mounted on a platform, to the stadium for home games where Baas explained, “It was rung for each score and was really a part of the festivities.”

Kenneth “Alec” Thornton ’82 even has a picture in his basement taken his freshman year of ATO football players and trainers standing behind the bell, which is between the football field and the home stands. “The bell is sitting on a small slab of concrete with ATO painted on the concrete,” Thornton said.

The ATO victory bell currently resides in the university warehouse, and Baas thinks the tradition ended when the ATOs left campus in 1994.

A bronze bell, a gift from the Classes 1992-1995 in celebration of the sesquicentennial anniversary, currently hangs in the Myers’ cupola.

Electronically operated, it now tolls only during Commencement and special occasions, such as the inauguration of President L. Baird Tipson.

— Phyllis Eberts ’00