It was a couple of hours past sunset on December 12, 1953. 雪花紧贴着中学学院的圆顶，覆盖了印第安人的土丘. A few students were out and about, 他们在去卡内基图书馆(WAC)的路上或离开皮尔逊科学馆的实验室工作时，顶着凛冽的微风弯腰驼背. Earlier that day, students and faculty had gathered in the chapel, crafting decorations for Christmas Vespers, but they hadn’t finished. One of the students, Don Norenberg, 在他回来的路上，他闻到了烟味，然后看到缕缕烟从屋顶冒出来. He immediately called in an alarm. Eaton Chapel was on fire.

自学院成立以来，教堂一直是校园的焦点. 在中学学院，教师和学生最初挤在一个房间里, but in 1858, the college constructed its third building, later known as South College, 哪一个会在二楼建一个小教堂，在较低的楼层建一个学院. As Beloit College grew, 它需要一个更大的空间来做礼拜、举办社区讲座和其他活动.

By 1891, 学院已经获得了足够的资金来建造一个新的教堂，并聘请了芝加哥的建筑公司, Patton and Fisher. On January 26, 1892, Beloit dedicated the Richardson Romanesque-style chapel, 由方形的石灰石建造而成，钟楼上的钟声会为匆匆赶往教室的几代学生敲响熟悉的旋律.

The chapel remained without a name until 1930, when the college honored its second president, Edward Dwight Eaton. In 1938, the college modified the exterior and redid the interior, 增加了优雅的新长椅，让男女第一次坐在一起, faculty joining them instead of perching on a raised platform.

Gazing upwards, 游客们发现了由俄罗斯艺术家绘制的令人眼花缭乱的天花板, Nickolai Kaisarhoff. 五十块嵌板呈现了拜占庭风格的早期基督教象征, featuring brilliant colors over a dull gold background. Dog-toothed Romanesque chandeliers hung from the ceiling. 这些珍贵的装饰品无一幸免于火灾.

汽笛鸣响，消防车疾驰而来，教堂现在被浓烟笼罩. Spectators also raced to the scene, some of them in fancy dress, 精心打扮，准备参加那天晚上在野舍举行的圣诞晚会.

最初没有看到火焰，似乎消防队员很快就会控制住火势. However, 火势在空心柱子内蔓延，突然从窗户窜出，穿过屋顶, which newspaper accounts described as an “inferno.” The Bulletin of Beloit College 后来的报道说:“泪水从女学生的脸上流下来，普遍的评论是‘直到现在我才意识到教堂的意义有多大.’

This sentiment was sensitively phrased by the Rev. Chad Walsh of the English Department, 在周日晚的圣诞晚祷布道之前, when he said that students, alumni, faculty, 整个社区现在都意识到教堂曾经是学院的心脏.尽管许多学生对在这些硬板凳上花费的长时间感到不满, 教堂培养了一种社区意识，这是校园里其他建筑所无法比拟的.

The flames spread so rapidly and so thoroughly, 几乎没有机会抢救学校的文物或其他珍贵物品. In an era without copy machines, flash drives, or data clouds, 一名教员冲进他位于地下室的办公室，抢走了他唯一一份未完成的博士论文. Alas, 另一位教授丢失了他计划用于博士论文的所有书籍和研究资料.

拥挤不堪的大学图书馆在教堂的地下室里存放了4万本书，但大部分都丢失了. Some one-of-a-kind college documents survived the fire, 包括可追溯到19世纪40年代的学生成绩分类账. 它们现在被保存在学院档案馆里，仍然被烧焦，被烟灰覆盖着.

消防队员集中精力抢救钟楼和其他外墙, Beloit College students helped place and hold hoses. One of them, a slim, dark-haired freshman named Steve, 在帮忙推一辆深陷泥潭的消防车时摔坏了眼镜. Steve also held a secret unrevealed until over a month later.

Throughout the night, as firefighters tried to tame the blaze, the chapel chimes continued to ring in each quarter hour.

The following day, bright sun shone on a roofless chapel, charred timbers, blackened pews, and soggy hymnals long ago edited by Edward Dwight Eaton. The fire had destroyed the valuable pipe organ, several pianos, new recording equipment, and all of the choir robes. The college faced a major decision, 是将剩下的墙壁夷为平地，还是重建伊顿教堂. 好心人捐款，学院将获得25万美元的保险金. 附近的第一公理会教堂提供晚祷服务. Meanwhile, fire experts tried to determine what caused the blaze.

 In early February of 1954, 一位精神病学家向芝加哥警方透露，他的一位病人承认放火烧了教堂. Stephen Dykstra Posey was an 18-year-old Beloit College freshman.

Beloit police chief, George E. Griffin, 取下了波西签名的供词，并告诉媒体发生了什么:“作为大学合唱团的一员, he was in the chapel on the afternoon of Dec. 12, rehearsing for a Christmas concert the following day. 排练结束后，他去买圣诞树上的灯泡了, returning after the building was deserted. 他把一根点燃的香烟塞进一卷纸火柴里，然后把它们放在地下室壁橱里放清洁用品的架子上, 根据1965年对查德·沃尔什教授的采访, 波西在看了1953年的电影后找到了制造这种燃烧装置的灵感, Stalag 17.

格里芬指出，波西和其他学生一起帮助消防员. “I did everything I could to put the fire out,” Posey told him. “I didn’t mean to start anything that gargantuous.”

Posey’s arrest prompted lurid headlines throughout the Midwest. 他的父亲是西北大学的教授，他的祖父曾是威斯康星大学的校长. 在耶鲁大学遇到麻烦后，波西在伯洛伊特学院获得了第二次机会. 据他的精神科医生说，波西的智商高于爱因斯坦. After Posey pleaded not guilty due to insanity, 法院判他在威斯康星州中央州立医院住几年. The state freed him in 1959 after two years on parole. He passed away in 2011.

目睹这场毁灭性教堂大火的人中有一位大学总统候选人, Miller Upton, on his first visit to campus. 厄普顿后来回忆说，学院和社区对火灾的反应给他留下了深刻的印象，他们的积极态度使他在两周后接受了伯洛伊特的校长职位.

伯洛伊特学院重建了伊顿教堂，保留了原来的钟楼和其他外墙. 1954年10月29日，米勒·厄普顿的就职典礼是在这里举行的第一次重大活动. 大火一年后的1954年12月12日，教堂重新落成.