SPORTS

The FAU Alumni Center is looking to end the 2009-2010 school year with a bang.

Or make that a bell.

Following the football team’s annual spring game on April 24, the Alumni Center will be starting two new traditions, one of which will be the unveiling of a bell that will ring out during victories at athletic events on FAU’s home turf.

“There’s going to be a barbeque for athletes, students, alumni and the community held here at the Alumni Center, and it’s going to be a celebration of FAU, an end-of-the-year kind of thing,” said Mike Burdman, FAU’s alumni adviser.

The bell, which is being donated by the FAU Alumni Center and alumna Nina Taylor, will be hung in a compact bell tower until the football stadium is built, where it will eventually take residence and preside over FAU’s home games.

“The bell is supposed to start a tradition, so once the stadium is built they’re going to ring it right after the game,” said Student Alumni Board President Moussa Hanna, a junior finance and management major. “It’s going to symbolize unity.”

Along with the unveiling of FAU’s newest noisemaker, Pride and Spirit Night will also take place. The event will be a celebration of the school year and will have free food, dunk tanks where student athletes will have an opportunity to dunk their coaches, and live music.

School spirit will also be put on display with the Spirit Cup Competition, where student organizations have the chance to compete with one another to prove who has the most school spirit. The winners will get their name on a trophy and the competition’s bragging rights until the following year.

Live music from reggae band Stampede Movement will round off the activities and provide the backdrop to a night of celebration by students and alumni alike.

“It’s going to be a big event; it’s going to be fun,” said Burdman. “It’s going to have the same energy that we have at the bonfires. Come out and have fun.”