page_title: Emporia State Hornets football
section_title: Silent Joe
hierarchical_section_title: Emporia State Hornets football / Venue, tradition and culture / Silent Joe
caption_attribution_description: English: The "Victory Joe" Bell Tower
context_page_description: The Emporia State Hornets football program is a college football team that represents Emporia State University, often referred to as "Emporia State" or "ESU". The team competes as a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, which is a conference in the Division II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The program began in 1897 and has fifteen conference titles. On December 15, 2006, former Hornet quarterback Garin Higgins became the team's 24th head coach, following the resignation of Dave Wiemers. Home games are played on Jones Field at Welch Stadium, located on the Emporia State University campus in Emporia, Kansas. In August 2017, Hero Sports named Emporia State the "best football team in Kansas, regardless of division."
context_section_description: The bell tower adjacent to the football stadium is known as "Silent Joe." The bell, which weighs approximately 1,400 pounds, was first used in 1855 and hung in the original KSN administration building until 1880.
  In 1880 when the former administration building was razed, the bell was kept in storage until the present bell tower was completed in August 1939. The plan was for the bell to be rung only after a school victory. The 1939 Hornet football squad was expected to be a “superteam.” Some optimists speculated the bell would be worn out halfway through the season, but after the first two games that season, the contrary became apparent. After that, the bell was known as “Silent Joe.” The name “Joe” was chosen because it was a common label for male students then.
caption: The "Silent Joe" Bell Tower
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