One of the confessors' roommates turned in the hands the day before they admitted their involvement in the incident. The hands were undamaged and can be reattached to the clock.
The two students had used temporary scaffolding erected on the west side of Healy Hall to access the building. Additional enhancements have been made to the building to prevent such incidents in the future.
The identification of the students responsible for the theft concluded an intensive investigation and a period of heightened campus interest in the incident, which the two admit said was an attempt to revive an old Georgetown tradition. Students have attempted to climb the Healy clock tower and take the hands for several decades, although the hands have only been stolen on two other occasions in the past 11 years.
It was just two buddies, it wasn't malicious at all", one of the students said. "We had no intention of keeping the hands."
His fellow participant also said he wanted to take the hands as part of a prank, not a criminal act.
"When I learned of the tradition of stealing the Healy clock hands freshman year, and reading various publications about the history associated with the tower, I decided that I eventually wanted to contribute to the survival of the tradition before I graduated," he said. "I intended no destruction or ill-will to the university in taking the hands, simply to contribute to one aspect of what makes this a special place."
The roommate, who lives with one of the two but was not involved in the theft, said he decided to turn in the hands after learning that the students were trying to find a way to return them anonymously.
Adapted from an article in The Hoya, October 14, 2005.
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