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Carillon bells will ring at RIT once again

RIT University News

The Rochester Institute of Technology is bringing back a sound many alumni may remember.

A new carillon bell system has been installed and will ring for the first time in nearly three years Friday afternoon.

Amar Bhatt is the Student Government Vice President at RIT and helped create a petition to bring back the bells in 2015. He said the revival of the bells was heavily based in nostalgia.

"A lot of students have expressed that to u,s saying they miss the bells. After a long day of class, hearing the bells walking back to their dorms or walking to the library really cheered them up."

The old bell system was a decade old when it broke in the fall of 2014.

Bhatt said he remembers the bells, reminding him of the time and whether or not he was late to class.  

"I remember hearing the bells right as I went to my 8am class and then everyday around 9pm when I went back to my dorms I would hear the last song play. And it was just a really nice way to walk through the quarter mile hearing those bells play as I got back to my dorm room."

The carillon bells at RIT have never actually been physical bells; they’ve always been an electronic system, which is what has been installed now.

The bells debut at 3pm Friday afternoon, and will then ring every hour on the hour from 7am to 11pm, with a variety of songs playing throughout the day.