Every university has its stories — whispered traditions, half-remembered tales, and relics that quietly shape campus culture. At Bryant University, these stories are more than just anecdotes; they’re touchstones that connect generations of students. From a mysteriously relocated archway that sparked a superstition, to a bell tower that once tolled across campus, to a subterranean bowling alley that brought students together in spirited competition, here’s a look at three pieces of Bryant’s past:
The traveling arch
Bryant University’s original archway was the South Hall portico of its Providence campus on College Hill, which community members marched through before commencement and other celebratory events. Too big to move to Smithfield, it stayed behind when the building was acquired by Brown University. Instead, a wrought iron archway embedded in South Hall’s main entrance was extracted and moved to the new Tupper campus.
Officially, it’s said that a rigger moved the archway at Bryant’s request, and that Frank Delmonico ’62, ’92HMBA, then vice president of Business Affairs, and Robert Hillier ’92HMBA, architect of the Smithfield campus, relocated it to where it is today; the Class of 1968 also had a trust fund earmarked for moving the archway to the new campus. (Unofficially, the archway arrived after a group of students, wanting a physical reminder of their days on the former campus, uprooted it, loaded it on a truck, and planted it by Bryant Pond.)
Immediately after the arch was transferred from the old campus, students avoided passing through it. A rumor started that walking through the arch before graduation jeopardized your chances of graduating, which resulted in worn paths on the ground around the arch — inspiring a tradition that continues today. After 17 years of ruts, the Class of 1987 funded a brick pathway around the revered arch as their gift to Bryant.
For whom the bell tolls
From 1977 to 2005, a 40-foot triangular clock and bell tower with a three-faced dial clock and pre-recorded chime system towered over campus between the Unistructure and the Koffler Center and Communications Complex. The structure, veneered with brown brick, was a gift from the Class of 1976.
Featuring a bell from the homestead of Earl Tupper ’68H, who donated the land for the Smithfield campus to Bryant, the carillon played Westminster Chimes at regular intervals throughout the day — bringing back a tradition from the university’s Providence campus where a bell on the roof of South Hall would mark when classes began and were dismissed.
The tower had several unique quirks when it was erected. For starters, its clockwork was not tied into the university’s master clock system, causing it to display a different time than the rest of the clocks at Bryant. Additionally, an amplifier change was necessary so the chimes, which would sound on the hour, didn’t ring in the middle of the night.
The tower was removed in 2005 during the Koffler Center expansion and plaza renovations. Today, the bell is silent, but it has been preserved and is now held in storage by Bryant’s Office of Facilities Management.
Where the Good Times Rolled
Bowling was a popular campus activity throughout the 1970s and ’80s with intramural teams such as the Alley Kats, Gutter Dusters, and Billion Dollar Bowlers filling up rosters.
When constructing the Smithfield campus, Bryant built four tenpin bowling lanes within the Unistructure, which were used by the varsity bowling team as well as leagues formed by the university’s students, administrators, and secretarial staff. Known as Bryant Lanes, the venue was a campus hotspot, and fraternities and sororities regularly touted their scores in The Archway student newspaper’s “Greek News” section.
In 1976, the bowling lanes were moved from the Unistructure to the new Koffler student center, which later became the Koffler Center and Communications Complex. Due to the building's circular shape, however, it was not wide enough to fit the entire length of the bowling alley — resulting in a square extension to its basement, where the alley was to be located. The underground extension also incorporated a second alteration, a tunnel adjacent to the bowling alley that included a walkway between the Unistructure and student center.
Bryant's student center eventually moved to a new building in 1986, and when the previous site was transformed into a technology center, the bowling alley was removed to make way for a classroom with 31 IBM Personal System/2 computers.
Students continue to use the underground route today, though — even if bowling is no longer up their alley.