Fort Lewis College Leaning Clock Tower
By: Mia MCCormick Indy Staff Writer
The Fort Lewis College clock tower has stood tall and sturdy since the turn of the century, never faltering, never swaying, until this year, when it began to lean.
The clock tower is a staple of FLC, it marks the campus quad, chimes relentlessly every hour and is anything but camera shy.
Recently though, our poor clock tower, like some of us, has started to feel the effects of the after-spring-break, oh-shiz-the-semester-is-ending-soon grind. It’s losing its shape, its stability, and is starting to bend and lean to the side.
One student, Dissa Praync, a senior engineering major, said she noticed the tower sitting at a slightly-tilted angle back in February, but dismissed it as a trick her sleep-deprived mind was playing on her.
“Yeah I’ve noticed it, but haven’t been too worried since that tower of pizzas in Italy has been leaning for like 900 years,” Stan Dinstrait, a first-year student, said.
Why, though? Is it tired of jumping backward and forward in time for every daylight savings? Is it under immense stress?
Joe King, a professor in the geosciences department, said that the foundation beneath the tower is starting to shift, and is causing the soil to settle unevenly.
“There’s not much we can do at this point,” he said. “I just hope that if it comes crashing down it’s hands are braced in the 10 and 2 position.”
Tom Stritikus, the president of FLC, said he’s very concerned about the clock tower leaning, but thinks it could become an icon and tourism site for FLC much like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
“There are so many important issues facing Fort Lewis College right now,” Stritikus said. “The success of our students and their ability to change their community, but I think emergency number one is the clock tower leaning.”
Stritikus said that he would prefer not to divulge how long he’s known about the issue, for liability purposes, but hopes to form a committee to study the leaning tower and will have a report by the end of the semester.
For more information about this strange event, follow this link, https://youtu.be/z-nfbDXTiHg.
APRIL FOOLS!!! All the information in this piece is a joke. Our good ol’ clock tower is standing straighter than ever. Thank you Tom Stritikus for playing along! Double this prank and pass it on.