Steven Bartkoski has been in the Campanile dozens of times during his time at Kansas University.

In fact, he’s taken lessons playing the carillon bells at the top of the 120-foot-tall tower.

But he’s always been extra careful always to walk out the same door he walked in when he goes for lessons — and never to walk all the way through the tower. Legend has it that students who walk all the way through the Campanile before commencement won’t graduate.

“It is a superstition,” Bartkoski said. “But, you know, why take your chances? It’s not going to kill me to not walk through it.”

Bartkoski will finally get his chance to walk through the tower at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, when he graduates with a degree in theater and film. Like the more than 4,000 other graduates who will participate in commencement, he’s cherished the thought of someday “walking down the hill” — a sacred Jayhawk tradition for decades.

Students walked down the hill before the Campanile was dedicated in 1951. But the tower quickly became part of the tradition, according to the 1950 issue of Graduate Magazine.

“The graduating class marched through the base of the Campanile by dint of some removal of scaffolding and other debris around the tower,” the magazine said. “As the custom for graduating classes to pass through the base of the memorial bell tower carries on through the years, the class of ’50 doubtless will take pride that it was the first to observe the rite.”

The walk down the hill has become such a ritual that nothing about the commencement weekend schedule changes much from year to year, said Jeff Weinberg, assistant to the chancellor.

He said former students who missed their graduation walk often call to see if they can process with the current graduating class. University officials always say OK, Weinberg said.

Elizabeth Berghout, assistant professor of music, will perform on the Campanile's carillon for the fifth year in a row during KU's commencement ceremonies Sunday.

“When you look back at all the years before the Campanile was on the hill, when we still had students walking down the hill, it’s interesting how quickly the Campanile became part of the ceremony,” Weinberg said. “Walking through the Campanile has become a tradition, and it’s been that way for half a century.”

Elizabeth Berghout will have a unique vantage point for Sunday’s commencement ceremony. As university carilloneur, she’ll play the carillon bells for a half hour before commencement and for a half hour afterward.

She’ll get a view of the graduation procession from the carillon keyboard, 77 steps above the ground.

“It’s such a big, traditional event,” she said. “It’s exciting to be part of it. I don’t know if people graduating hear the bells, but they probably make the atmosphere more exciting.”

Schedule of graduation events

Bartkoski, who graduates Sunday, said he’s been happy not to tempt fate over the last four years. But once his finals are over this week, that might change.

“I was actually thinking of walking through it just before commencement — when I know grades are in,” he said. “But the second I have that tassel on the other side and the diploma, it’ll all be worth it. Walking through the Campanile, that’s pure KU.”