It was designed by Ralph Adams Cram and is one of the defining Collegiate Gothic architectural features of the university's Graduate College.

A bust of the former president is the centerpiece of the grand chamber at the tower's ground level.

The tower's carillon is a gift of the class of 1892, which presented the bells as their 35th reunion dedication to the university in 1927.

A plaque near the tower's entrance reads:[1] The Class of Eighteen Ninety Two presents the carillon in this tower to Princeton University with love and gratitude and the hope that its bells may ever inspire coming generations of Princeton men to maintain the traditions of their alma mater in the service of God and of their country Originally dedicated on June 17, 1927, the bells were rededicated after decades of varying use and maintenance on June 13, 1993.

[2] The bells play Sunday afternoons by university carillonneur Lisa Lonie, and weekday evenings by students, except during exam periods.