History of the Victory Bell

Western Carolina continues a tradition resumed in 2009, returning the “Victory Bell” – a mounted, transportable bell that rings the football team’s arrival for pregame, accompanies the “Pride of the Mountains” Marching Band and the Catamount Cheerleaders in their pre-game parades to E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field, and is run to celebrate scores by the Catamount football team – and of course, joins the celebratory chorus by ringing for Western Carolina victories.

Whereas the bell is a relatively new tradition, it is actually the re-birth of an old tradition on the WCU campus as is noted on the plaque which adorns the Alumni Bell Tower, the centerpiece in the quad. The tower houses the original “Victory Bell,” which hung in the old Madison Hall from 1904 until 1938 and was run to signal class periods. After the building was torn down, the bell was mounted on a stone base between the Moore and former Joyner Building – which was destroyed by fire – and was rung in celebration of Catamount athletics victories.

The bell was later moved closer to the Old Student Union building before making its last active move in the late 1960s to the lawn of the Hinds University Center.

The bell and its traveling apparatus were designed and constructed by Mr. Ron Bumgarner, an assistant professor of engineering technology at Western Carolina, and several students in his class.