The Campanile is UNI’s most prominent monument on campus. It gathers students for Homecoming traditions, speakers and events on Lawther Field, great photo opportunities and now the return of weekly lunch concerts. Every Friday this fall, the Campanile carillonneurs will be hosting concerts at noon. 

The first of these concerts was Aug. 26, where students, faculty and community members gathered for an hour. The normal noon bell rang before the first few chimes of The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” kicked off the show. Among the tracklist was “Hotel Room Service” by Mr. Worldwide, “Dancing Queen” by ABBA, a sprinkling of Katy Perry’s best hits and “Baby” by Justin Beiber. Although tracklists are posted on the Instagram page @UNIcampanile, those in attendance remarked that the most entertaining part was guessing the song as it was played.

The lunch concert was the perfect, calming retreat into what it means to be a student on campus. With the UNI Outdoors propped up nearby with their firepit, making s’mores and making the air feel a bit more like fall, students walking to and from class enjoyed the energy shift that community events bring. Some stopped their normal route to sit and soak in the sunshine and music, other community members had prepared by bringing lawn chairs and snacks. Michaela Kehoe, a senior art education major, had been looking forward to the concert after seeing it through the Welcome Week Activities board on the MyUNI app. She stated, “I’m really glad they continue to do these concerts. In previous years I only heard them play briefly, so it’s super nice to be able to sit down and listen to all of it and guess the songs.” Carillonneurs Aidan Shorey and Emily Clouser played exceptionally well to the audience, and got to hear a smattering of applause after every song. 

Most of the performers are UNI students that are heavily involved in the band program. However, UNI brings in professional carillonneurs to play occasionally. The Guild of Carillonneurs website and social media pages provide an abundance of information regarding the performing carillonneurs, Campanile events, and campus history.

Traditionally, campaniles were used in association of churches, then were later reinstituted for industrial and collegiate purposes. The building of the UNI Campanile was proposed to students 1914, then a few years later as a memorial to World War 1 efforts. The grand opening and concert occured Sept. 19, 1926 which gathered a crowd of 12,500. Uniquely, the Campanile at UNI was majorly paid for by student donations. Other campaniles in the midwest area can be found on Iowa State University’s campus and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.