Walking up the steps to upper campus at Cal State Long Beach, it can feel quite tranquil, even sacred—especially with the lanky, 68-foot bell tower that rises proudly on the southeast corner of the student union.

The bell tower, named the Carlson Memorial Tower after a benefactor of the college and Long Beach resident, can be traced back to French sculptor Andre Bloc, who designed the bell tower for CSULB during the 1965 California International Sculpture Symposium. The renowned French architect and sculptor died at the age of 70 when, ironically, he fell from a large monument while on vacation in New Delhi, plummeting to his death. The bell tower was his final sculpture before his death.