WINONA, Minn. – On a drizzly morning in the middle of campus, Winona State University archivist Russ Dennison stood near a 275-pound cast iron bell mounted on a wooden platform. This was a test of the university’s new commencement tradition. Dennison wrapped his hand around a purple rope attached to the clapper and pulled. Three rings echoed through the air. Dennison recoiled, his stoicism shaken: “That’s very loud up close.” At graduation on Friday, graduates will switch the tassels on their cops, as always, as they parade through the hand-shake line. Then they will announce their accomplishment by ringing the bell. The bell is what university President Scott Olson sees as a new tradition. The advance test was conducted by Dennison five days ahead of the graduation day. For the event he brought a faded 1969 purple beanie from his freshman days and recalled when tradition required new students to wear a beanie. Turning to the bell, he said: “And now we’re starting a new tradition.”
Dennison. As the senior-most Winona State faculty member, he did the test-ringing of the new Commencement Bell. He joined the library faculty in 1980.