The Clarkson Hockey Bell

In 1957, the members of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity (also know as Karma and later Delta Sigma Phi or Delta Sigma) salvaged a bell from a burnt-out schoolhouse in Colton, NY, and began hauling it on a specially built wagon to sporting events that included members.  Soon they started taking the bell to varsity hockey games and to the annual Ice Carnival parade.

The bell was given a permanent home when the arena was enlarged in 1967.  When women's hockey began, the sisters of Omega Delta Phi Sorority were permitted to borrow the carefully guarded clapper and ring the bell when the women's scored.  Beginning in 1968, the bell rang out after the last senior received their diploma at Commencement ceremonies.  When these ceremonies were moved to the Indoor Recreation Center in 1981, the bell went with them. In 1991, it was installed in the new hockey arena in the Cheel Center.

This bell is an important part of the atmosphere that surrounds Clarkson's hockey team. Its clangor has a positive effect on the Clarkson players' morale, and often a negative effect on opponents. The brothers of Delta Sigma Phi were delighted when, on a nationally syndicated television show, former Cornell All-American goalie and later professional hockey star Ken Dryden responded to the question, "Was there anything you disliked about college hockey?" with "Yes, that damn bell at Clarkson."  (source: Clarkson Mosaic 1896 - 1995)

1974

2012

In February 2015 some Clarkson alumni gathered in Atlanta to watch Clarkson play RPI. One alumni, Tom Farr '80, made a DSP bell for the occasion, calling it The Southern Bell: