Ring in the Moment: WSU Health Sciences launches bell ringing tradition for students

The heart of Washington State University's Spokane campus has a new landmark, honoring the transition from student to health professional while acknowledging the community support behind that milestone and WSU's longstanding partnership with STCU.

The sculpture, Pages of Care, was made possible with help and support from STCU, which had a goal of not simply the placing of campus art but of creating something meaningful and a testament to shared values and long-term commitment.

"The partnership between STCU and WSU, and this project are really important, because they wrap around the values STCU holds and that our thousand employees carry forward in this community," said Marty Dickinson, chief marketing officer of STCU and a member of WSU's Board of Regents. "It's about serving with purpose and helping others and showing up in meaningful ways."

STCU worked closely with campus leadership, students, and staff to ensure the project reflected shared values of education, access to care, and sustained investment in Washington's future. Through a collaboration with the School of Design and Construction's Landscape Architecture program, students envisioned a reflective space designed to represent one's personal healthcare path and the community of support surrounding it. Rather than a straight line, the vision emphasized pause and reflection, a deliberate counterpoint to the intensity of academic training. That student-driven concept became the foundation for the final commissioned work.

In the years ahead, the bell will ring twice - once to welcome students into their chosen field, and again to honor graduates as they start the next step in their lives (photo by Cori Kogan, WSU Spokane). In the years ahead, the bell will ring twice - once to welcome students into their chosen field, and again to honor graduates as they start the next step in their lives (photo by Cori Kogan, WSU Spokane). In the years ahead, the bell will ring twice - once to welcome students into their chosen field, and again to honor graduates as they start the next step in their lives (photos by Cori Kogan, WSU Spokane).

Following a competitive selection process, artist James Dinh was chosen to bring the vision to life. Known for creating site-specific public art that honors healing, memory, and community, Dinh designed a sculpture organized around two enduring symbols: a heart and a bell. Set within stone panels, a glass heart represents commitment, humanity, and the resilience required in medicine. The stone structure speaks to permanence and endurance, the twin foundations of a high-quality medical education, while the heart's fragility reflects the vulnerability inherent in caring for others.

The bell is fully functional by design. Bells have long marked moments of transition in both education and health care. For WSU Health Sciences, it becomes a shared instrument that transforms the sculpture into a new campus tradition. In the years ahead, it will ring twice - once to welcome students into their chosen field, and again to honor graduates as they start the next step in their lives. Together, the sculpture and dedication ceremony were designed to remind students that while their journeys are personal, their impact is public.

A journey that extends beyond campus

As Washington's land-grant university, WSU honors its responsibility to educate and prepare graduates who are ready to meet real needs across the state, especially addressing the significant shortage of physicians and healthcare providers, particularly in rural and underserved communities.

For these communities, each ringing of the Pages of Care bell announces progress. It signals students moving closer to practice, supported by educators, donors, and community partners, like STCU, who recognize the urgency of preparing the next generation of health care providers.

"WSU's partnership with STCU is not defined by a single gift or program, but by years of steady, meaningful investment in our students, our faculty, and the future of healthcare in our region," said Chris Riley-Tillman, provost and executive vice president of Washington State University.

In choosing to support this project, STCU recognized that preparing health professionals for Washington's communities is not the work of a university alone, but a shared commitment between people and institutions who believe in the same future.

The bell will carry that commitment forward into classrooms, clinics, and communities throughout Washington every time it rings.