Class of 2017 Marks MC History with Homecoming Nod to Nelson Hall Clock Tower

A university historical marker sponsored by the MC Class of 2017 will soon honor the iconic clock tower that rises 30 feet into the air above Nelson Hall.

One of the most enduring symbols of Mississippi College will soon be recognized with a historical marker, thanks to the generosity of a graduating class that will celebrate its fifth anniversary during MC’s Homecoming.

Members of the MC Class of 2017 will be on the Clinton campus at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29, to dedicate a fresh blue-and-gold university marker to the Nelson Hall clock tower.

Since being placed in its perch high atop MC’s administrative building in 1947, the tower has chimed the passing of each hour at MC, with one rare exception: after being struck by lightning at 9:17 one summer morning in 2016, the tower remained out of commission for a few months until repairs could be completed.

When the tower was struck, hundreds of teenagers from Baptist churches statewide were attending a worship service in Swor Auditorium in Nelson Hall. All the lights went out. Debris from the tower rained down on the sidewalk. Inside the auditorium, there was an uncertain pause; then, there was spontaneous singing.

“It was a very special, moving experience for the students inside,” Jim Turcotte, vice president and executive director of the Alumni Association, said at the time. So moving that, more than five years later, the tower remained high on that senior class’s priority for acknowledgment.

Mary Elizabeth Stringer, MC Class of 2017 senior class president, didn’t witness the lightning strike – she was participating in MC’s Study Abroad Program in Taipei, Taiwan – but the event reverberated with her, even thousands of miles away.

“I didn’t find out about it until the next day,” said Stringer, now a senior manager of the American Bankers Association’s State Alliance Program in Washington, D.C. “It was a big deal. It made the local news, people talked about it for weeks, and it was an iconic moment. After the repairs were finished in October, we thought it would be great to honor the clock tower that’s so symbolic of MC.”

A native of Tylertown, Stringer grew up hearing about the tower and how its chimes signaled the top of every hour throughout the Clinton campus. Her father, Tony Stringer, and her mother, Carla Stringer, were both members of the MC Class of 1983. Her older brother, Taylor Stringer, graduated from MC in 2012 and got his M.B.A. here in 2014. Tony Stringer is a member of MC’s Board of Trustees.

“Everybody has their own memories of MC,” Stringer said. “My Mom and Dad’s era was different from my brother’s, which is different from mine. The landscape changes over time, but the people and the memories remain as you move forward.”

When it came time to consider what would make a fitting senior class gift, Stringer met with her fellow class officers – Julianne James Borne, secretary, and Will Tobermann, treasurer – the clock tower rose to the forefront of their memories.

“Whenever you see it, you think of MC,” Stringer said. “Nelson Hall and Swor Auditorium were used so much by students, and there were so many monumental events that happened during our time there that we thought it was appropriate to recognize the clock tower.

“I remember it going off every hour, and if you heard it walking across the Quad, you knew you were already late to class.”

Stringer wasn’t tardy to many of her classes in the School of Business. A business administration major, she was active in the school. She remains so today, helping mentor for the “Women in Business” club in the School of Business at MC. A new member of the MC Alumni Association Board, she received her master’s in communications and public relations from Georgetown University last year.

Stringer said she is excited to return to MC’s campus to celebrate her class’s 5-year reunion tailgate at Homecoming and to join her fellow class officers for the dedication of the sign, which will be placed directly in front of Nelson Hall.

“The clock tower is something that’s special to MC,” she said. “I don’t know of any other university in the state that has anything quite like it. Ole Miss has the Lyceum, Mississippi State has the Junction, but I’ve always thought of the clock tower as MC’s symbol.

“In a way, it’s representative of MC. No matter when you go back to campus nor how much time has passed, when you hear that chime, you always know you’re still a Choctaw.”