La Salle bells: More than music to the ears

By Olivia Biagi
Collegian Editor
April 2, 2008

Anyone who has been on the main quad at either 1 or 6:30 p.m. has had the pleasure of listening to the music coming from the College Hall tower. The Carillon Bells, however, are more than the continuation of an American tradition of collegiate bells at La Salle; they represent a time when Lasallians joined together for what they believed to be an important addition to the campus.

Olivia Biagi - The timers on the Carillon Bells in College Hall tower are programmed
to ring throughout campus hourly.

John Veen, class of 1959, and later director of the student union, spearheaded a two-month long campaign to install the first set of Carillon Bells in Olney tower in 1958.

“I have always associated college life with a bell to toll the hours and to play at various college functions,” said Veen. “Up to this time, this has been missing on the La Salle campus. We are trying our best to r

ectify this situation.”

“I never met the guy, but he was Mr. Dynamo … an absolute energy machine,” said La Salle archivist Brother Joseph Grabenstein of Veen. “He was a student, but he was an older student … roughly 10 years older than his classmates.”

Veen chaired the Bell Committee in 1958 to raise money for the $7,200 project. Dr. John A. Guischard, then professor of modern languages and the faculty representative of the committee, stressed the “importance of the bell system as a unifying factor.”

Students during this time came together in what was later described in La Salle Magazine, Jan. 1959, as an “unprecedented student-inspired drive,” to help raise $6,000 in cash and pledges. Student organizations helped by selling raffle tickets, first prize of which was a 21-inch RCA Victor console television set. The Masque also donated a percentage of its’ ticket sales from the fall production that year, while fraternities Sigma Beta Kappa and Alpha Phi Omega donated proceeds from a charity basketball game.

The “Bell for La Salle” drive culminated at a dance and Grand Drawing Dec. 14, 1958, when the contract was signed to install the carillons. The first carillon system consisted of 25 English bells and 25 Harp bells, with four large speakers. It included a bell striking hourly, an Angelus bell, a special melody player, and an automatic playing device with 30 selections, according to La Salle Magazine, summer 1984.

The bell was dedicated to the memory of Pope Pius XII on Feb. 12, 1959. A very short article ran in the New York Times June 9, 1959 about the bells, which according to the article, were similar to one displayed at the Brussels World Fair. Also, similar systems at the time were in use at the North American College in Rome and the Singing Tower in Florida.

The Collegian editorial staff of 1958-59 recognized an important meaning behind the bells.

“Bells, however, are not the end of the affair. For, only in realizing exactly what the bells stand for, can we come to the conviction that the new millennium for La Salle is here … To the disinterested skeptics, the bells are just chiming noisemakers: to those who worked and in a sense, fought for them, they represent a great deal more. We think you will know what we mean when you hear them.”

As years wore on, however, so too did the condition of the Carillon Bells, and in 1981 Veen again took charge and spearheaded the alumni campaign to install the current system. He was assisted by the classes of 1983 and 1958, according to La Salle Magazine. Dec. 1, 1982 the Schulmerich “Basilican” VI was installed in the College Hall tower. On May 19, 1984 it was formally dedicated to all deceased La Salle Alumni. The current system does not consist of actual bells. Instead, it is all electronic with a clock-controlled tape player.

The bells are located between the chapel of the Brother’s residence and College Hall. In addition to the hourly bell chime, Brother Charles Gresh, director of major gifts, acts as deejay.

“[It plays] all kinds [of music],” said Gresh. “Religious, classical, semi-classical, patriotic, show tunes … We’ve had songs by the Beatles.

“They’re on once after one, and once after 6:30. One tape, for example, may last for two weeks.” So next time you hear the bells playing in College Hall, remember a time when Lasallians joined together for a common cause.

Information collected from the Collegian archives.

biagio1@lasalle.edu