It is a tied game in Strawberry Stadium. The Lions are tied against Houston Baptist University in the fourth quarter. With the desire to win, the Lions go for it on fourth down, and then it happens. A completed pass, a gap in the backfield and a green and gold receiver rushes the football into the end zone.

At this moment, members of one student organization get to participate in a football tradition special to the university. They get to ring the Victory Bell. Andrew Bechac, senior associate athletic director for internal operations, discussed the appeal of participating in this tradition.

“It’s an excellent way to get involved,” said Bechac. “When we ring the bell, it also alerts everyone that we scored, draws attention to the scoreboard area.”

According to the university website, the original bell disappeared during the 18-year football hiatus. However, the tradition of ringing the victory bell was revived after a new bell was donated by Hancock Bank.

The Office for Student Engagement partnered with the Athletics office to spread the word about club participation during the home football games. The term “Victory Bell” should not be used interchangeably with the River Bell however, since the River Bell is a trophy earned after winning the River Bell Classic against Nicholls State University.

Any organization, from departmental to Greek life, can sign up for a chance to be selected to ring the Victory Bell at a game. With three home games left for the 2018 football season, there are only a few spots available.

When not at a game, the bell resides near the west side of Strawberry Stadium.

For the past two seasons, the university ROTC volunteered to ring the bell on a season long basis.

“In prior years, we had various organizations on campus that would ring the bell, but there were times that we were not covered,” said Bechac. “So, the ROTC has now picked it up, which ensures that we have a bell ringing group for every home game.”

Macey Jones, coordinator for Greek life and student organizations, explained that the organizations are not picked randomly.

“For each home game, we will choose a different student organization we feel has gone above and beyond what is expected and showcases what it means to be student leaders on our campus,” said Jones.

Any student can nominate any organization to ring the Victory Bell. Those who are interested will need to provide their name, email, the organization they are nominating, the game they are nominating for and a paragraph about why that organization should be selected.

Contact the OSE for the form and for more information.