Bell ringing ceremony to honor student

The West Virginia University Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity will hold a bell-ringing ceremony Friday at 11:45 a.m. in front of Oglebay Hall to honor the memory of Joshua McClure.

McClure, 23, a senior physical education and teacher education student from Elkins, W.Va., died Jan. 23.

Family, friends and other members of the University community are invited to attend the event, and individuals close to McClure have been invited to speak during the ceremony.

Lauren Lagana, a senior criminology and investigations student and the ceremonial bell ringing chair of Alpha Phi Omega, said the fraternity has established a tradition of ringing the bell after the clock tower of Woodburn Hall chimes at noon to commemorate a student or a number of students who have recently died while attending WVU.

"I think it's an important tradition because the majority of the student body doesn't know when a student passes away," Lagana said. "It shows me, personally, what a close community the University really is. You have professors, faculty members – people who come from hours away, and occasionally even strangers – come stand and participate in the ceremony, even if they didn't know the person."

The bell used during the ceremony was attached to the mast of the USS West Virginia, part of the original warship sunk during the battle of Pearl Harbor, which currently stands in front of Oglebay Hall.

"We want people to understand that we recognize that the person who has passed away was a significant part of our campus," said Kim Mosby, associate dean of students with the Office of Student Life. "It is an opportunity for his friends, his family, his faculty members, roommates, whomever to gather here on campus and have the opportunity to say goodbye."

Mosby said the ceremony highlights the impact of the lives of students like McClure for many members of the Morgantown and University community.

"We just recognize that they played a role while they were here," she said. "They may not have been a part of APO, and they may not have someone we would know personally form our office, but in the bigger picture, we're all family on this campus."

There will be a luncheon held for the family after the event hosted by Alpha Phi Omega.