The 49 bells of Beaumont Tower chimed as assistant carillonneur Bill McHarris played in front of an audience before the Homecoming football game.
"Playing is one way to work off frustrations," McHarris said with a smile to a cramped room, as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.
McHarris, an MSU professor of chemistry and physics, began playing at Beaumont Tower in 1996 and is one of six carillonneurs who regularly play at the tower.
"I started out in music way back when," McHarris said. "I only play on special occasions now though."
A professional carillonneur gives a concert and private lessons on Tuesdays at Beaumont Tower, McHarris said.
"He's really good," he said. "It's a good opportunity for anyone who is interested in the carillon."
A carillon is an instrument capable of playing at least two octaves of carillon bells played from a keyboard, McHarris said. The instrument is a cross between an organ and a piano.
The tower is the meeting place for the MSU Tower Guard, an honor organization for sophomores. Until 1977, the organization was only open to women.
Today, it is a co-ed organization dedicated to providing service to those with disabilities in MSU's community.
"Only the top 5 percent of MSU sophomores are eligible for membership," Tower Guard member Elise Bonnema said. "After you send in your application and interview and everything, you get woken up very early in May. You have to be to the tower around 6 a.m. or so, and there is a formal ceremony and everyone is inducted."
Members of the organization are expected to complete 120 hours of community service.
Most frequently, volunteers read to the blind, give tests and transcribe books to put online, Bonnema said.
The organization was founded in 1934 by the wife of former MSU president Robert Shaw to help serve visually impaired students.
At that time, the athletics department was in charge of the upkeep of Beaumont Tower.
It wasn't until 1941 that the music department assumed responsibility for the tower.
"I'm not sure why the athletics department was originally in charge of the tower," Tower Guard member Sara Nees said. "I read somewhere that it was because they played the fight song and everything like that, but I'm not sure how true that is."
The tower stands on the northeast corner of campus where College Hall originally stood.
Around the turn of the 20th century, the hall, which had been devoted to the teaching of scientific agriculture, began to deteriorate and renovations were planned.
Before renovations were completed, two walls collapsed. Instead of rebuilding, Beaumont Tower was constructed to commemorate the building.
