'Special connection to the place': A student-centric history of the Bell Tower

Old brick coated with faded names of former students. Wooden levers speckled with dust. A spiral staircase leading to the top floor of the tower. The Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower is an iconic symbol of UNC that students walk by frequently, but rarely enter.

The chimes of the bell tower first rang out across campus Nov. 26, 1931. The tower, which stands at 172 feet tall, was commissioned and designed by John Motley Morehead and Rufus Lenoir Patterson. 

From the conception of the tower, Morehead planned to engage students to ring the bells.

“In regard to ringing the bells, I find in most institutions where they have chimes, they organize from among the students with musical ability a ‘bell ringers' guild’ membership in which is quite eagerly sought for,” he wrote in a 1930 correspondence to Patterson.

Members of the “bell ringers guild,” now known as the UNC Master Ringers, have consistently been members of the University band chosen by the band director. 

Director of University Bands Jeffery Fuchs said being picked as a Master Ringer requires trustworthiness, but he hasn't chosen a student in recent years due to the automation of the system. 

The Bell Tower originally contained 12 bells, with the largest engraved with Morehead’s name. In 1998, two additional bells were donated. 

The bells were played manually until 1998, when the ringing shifted to a computerized system. Now, the melodies are pre-programmed to be played. Fuchs can control the set from his phone. He rarely finds himself up the spiral stairs of the Bell Tower to control the ringing, except on certain occasions.

“I went and rang the bells seven times and then nine times on 9/11 at the time the two planes hit [the Twin Towers] to memorialize the Carolina alums who were on those planes,” Fuchs said.  

UNC Class of 2018 alumnus Chris Pirrung said the tower is a unique symbol of UNC because it is not only seen, but heard throughout campus. It chimes every 15 minutes.

Pirrung and his fellow band member Katie Rose Hand were previous master ringers. Hand said she has fond memories of going up the Bell Tower in her marching band uniform after a big game to play the Carolina victory song. 

The Bell Tower will forever be a special memory for the two of them because it was where Pirrung proposed to Hand. The pair, who both played trombone in the university band, began dating whileat UNC. When he decided to propose, Pirrung received special permission to have a bell ringer let them back into the tower and created an excuse to explain their visit to Hand.

“We just had that special connection to the place, and so Chris thought it would be great to propose in the Bell Tower,” Hand said. “And he wasn't wrong.”

Hand and Pirrung have been married since 2021.

Hand said being a master ringer was important to her because it gave her a musical connection to UNC as the hidden voice of the University. Now, she works as a professional musician. The couple visit UNC regularly to see Hand's family and to catch up with members of the music department, including Fuchs. 

Unlike Pirrung and Hand, most UNC students will only climb the Bell Tower once, for the traditional senior Bell Tower climb. In the coming months, the class of 2025 will climb 128 steps up the tower where they can sign their name in a book on the top floor.

That said, the tower is open on home football Saturdays for the community to climb, starting three hours before kickoff and ending one hour before the game.

Climbers, however, will not see the bells from inside the tower as they are inaccessible to the general public due to safety requirements. Regardless of not being able to see the bells up close, the tower remains the voice of the University, heard throughout campus and beyond.

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