Following the completion of football practice on Friday, Oct. 11, 2002 a Victory Bell donated by former MSU student Curt Fisher was presented to the Minnesota State football program. Since that day, the bell, officially entitled the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity Bell and emblazoned in school colors of purple and gold, has been rung following wins by the Maverick football team.
"I served as the social chairman for ATO when I was a student at MSU in the late 60's and early 70's, and one of my responsibilities was to make sure we got the bell to the games and carry it up into the stands," said Fisher. "We used to ring the bell following any big play by MSU, and it's extremely loud, which probably didn't make the people around us too happy. But it is definitely a memory that I will never forget, and I'm very happy to be a part of bringing this bell back to Maverick football."
Clarence Holley, the Maverick football coach at the time of Fisher's donation, explained how the new tradition of the victory bell came into being.
"Marsha Danielson (then-MSU Director of Alumni Relations) spoke to me about the traditions and rivalries we had here at MSU, and I told her that we were pretty bland as far as that goes. One of the traditions I told her about was what we did at Arkansas-Monticello when I was there. We had this victory bell, and it got to be a real big deal to the players, their parents, the whole town to ring it after wins. Not too long after that, Marsha called me back and told me she found Mr. Fisher who had a bell, and that he was willing to let the team use it," said Holley.
