UNC’s musical fraternity will explore more than just the acoustics of the campus’s best-known buildings Friday.
Members of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia will give group tours around the university’s major landmarks as part of their Midnight Mystery Tour fundraiser.
The tour begins at the Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower and traverses through campus.
“The tour kind of enriches the experience of going to UNC,” said Zach Mitchell, vice president of Phi Mu Alpha. “You won’t just walk by the old well and say, ‘That used to be a water fountain.‘”
Phi Mu Alpha hosts mystery tours three-times a year – once in the spring, again during Week of Welcome and lastly in the fall – for groups of all sizes.
The focus of each season’s tour is always slightly different.
But the officers of Phi Mu Alpha all agreed that the Old Well is the biggest attraction.
“We point out things that you go by everyday and tell you things that you never knew about those locations,” said Alex Basinger, Phi Mu Alpha’s treasurer.
Audiences can expect to hear fun facts, intriguing mysteries and local legends about landmarks like the Morehead Planetarium, the Bell Tower and Historic Playmakers Theatre.
A brother originally collected the many stories through research, and over time the fraternity has added more mysteries to the tour.
“A lot of the stories come from university records in Wilson,” said Paul Rosser, president of Phi Mu Alpha “Others are just legends of the area.”
Proceeds will go toward fraternity operating costs, including transportation to a performance at a local high school. They will also help develop a new scholarship for an incoming music major.
“The scholarship is for someone who will really benefit the music department,” Mitchell said. “It is going to benefit somebody who needs it.”
Last fall the tour raised over $800 with 162 individuals attending, said Basinger.
“Our fraternity stresses a loyalty to the alma mater, and I hope students will get a sort of pride or joy from learning the stories of this university,” Rosser said.
Groups should meet at the Bell Tower at 10 p.m. Tickets are $5. Sunglasses will also be on sale for $5.
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