Its beauty often compared to that of Oxford University's Magdalen Tower, the 173-foot Cleveland Tower flanks the main entrance to Princeton's Graduate College. One of the principal structures of the Graduate College when it was dedicated in 1913, the tower was erected as a memorial to President Grover Cleveland, who, following his retirement from public life, was a trustee of Princeton University and chaired the trustees' graduate school committee. Funds for the construction of the tower were raised by public subscription from "citizens of all parties in all walks of life from all parts of the United States."

The Princeton University Carillon, the fifth largest carillon in the country and one of the ten largest in the world, was given to the University by the Class of 1892 and installed in Cleveland Tower in 1927. The carillon has been renovated twice since its installation, and in 1999 Cleveland Tower itself received a $1.5 million restoration that included more than 200 carved replications in the original limestone material used for the tower's celebrated four pinnacles. Both the tower and the carillon continue to play important roles in University life: since 1993, the annual Summer Carillon Series has featured carillonneurs from around the United States and abroad, and an early morning climb to the top of Cleveland Tower to watch the sun rise remains a springtime tradition.