CHAPEL HISTORY

The Chapel is an impostor.

The first building planned and the last constructed on Duke's original West Campus, the Chapel was designed to imitate the Gothic style of Medieval England. Specifically, the tower is a replica of the Bell Harry Tower of Canterbury Cathedral in England.

"I want the central building to be a church, a great towering church, which will dominate all of the surrounding buildings, because such an edifice would be bound to have a profound influence on the young men and women who come here," University founder James B. Duke said.

But how much do students know about the 210-foot, looming tower? Do they know it was designed by Julian Abele, one of the first African-American architects? That it was once used as a lookout for fires in the Duke Forest?

The history of the Chapel is littered with stories that only a building of its grandeur could have.

One of the statues in the entrance, for example, is an impostor itself. The statue, meant to portray Methodist leader Thomas Coke, in fact depicts the wrong Coke. Presumably, the sculptor unwittingly used a source photograph of Edward Coke, an English justice. The error was discovered in 1988, when it was observed that the real Thomas Coke was somewhat rounder and beardless as compared to the statue.

The Chapel has also seen its share of crises. According to Spire and Spirit by Alice Phillips, students obtained a "No. 1 key" to the Chapel during the Allen Building takeover of 1969. After sneaking in and lighting the altar candles, they were chased out by police with tear gas. Afterwards, administrators found "God was gassed here" written by the students.

Five people got stuck in the Chapel elevator for more than two hours in 1998 when the 70-year-old, phone-booth-sized compartment finally gave out. The elevator was replaced in 2001 but is not open to public use.