Our Opinion: Finishing the Bell Tower would respect students who died in WWI and create unity and school spirit on campus and in the Wolfpack community.

A group called Finish the Bell Tower is raising money and creating awareness for the need to put bronze bells in the Memorial Bell Tower.

The original design for the Bell Tower in the 1920s called for a 54-bell carillon system to be placed in the World War I memorial, and the group’s ultimate goal is to finish the plan.

The group’s first step is to raise about $300,000 for the first six, largest bells.

Though it may not seem like the best time to renovate, Matt Robbins, graduate student in architecture and head of the Bell Tower project, said the price of bronze has dropped significantly because of the recession.

Also, the creators of the project have students in mind because they refuse to create a student fee to help pay for it and instead are asking for donations from students and asking them to purchase T-shirts.

Unfortunately, the group cannot go through with their plans until the Bell Tower is renovated.

The governor’s ban on new construction is preventing the group from moving forward, even though the University has already allocated money to renovate.

But students should still work to raise funds for the worthy cause.

Students should show enthusiasm and support the project because it would only be finishing what our forefathers started in the 1920s, according to Robbins.

The Bell Tower is one of the most well-known and most used symbols of the University and it deserves to be respected, let alone finished.

Finishing the Bell Tower means more than just making it prettier or putting a couple bells in it.

First and foremost, it would be finishing the memorial for the 33 students who died in World War I.

They deserve our respect, even if comes 90 years down the road.

Secondly, it would help unify campus. Because the Bell Tower project is a student-led initiative, it would help create a unified campus.

And when the project is complete with 54 bells, the Bell Tower will be able to play songs that raise school spirit, such as the alma mater and the Fight Song.

Finishing the Bell Tower may be the boost in school spirit the University needs, especially because donations will fund the project and it would be a way to pay our respect to those the University lost in WWI. 

If students want to have a single symbol of the University that unifies them, then they must support finishing the Bell Tower.