Samford Bells To Toll For National Sandy Hook Memorial Dec. 21

Published on December 19, 2012 by Sean Flynt

On Friday, Dec. 21 at 8:30 a.m., the bells of Samford University’s Rushton Memorial Carillon will toll 26 times in memory of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newton, Conn.

Samford carillonneur Steve Knight will perform the service as part of a memorial observation that will enlist the bells of colleges and churches throughout the nation.

The Rushton Memorial Carillon, so familiar to Samford students from the late 1960s through the present, is among the finest in the nation. The 49 bells of the original set, together weighing more than five tons and covering four octaves, were cast in Asten, Holland, at the renowned Schulmerich-Eljsbouts Bell Foundry. The carillon was first installed in the bell tower of the university's Reid Chapel in 1968. It was expanded and relocated to the library’s bell tower in 1979.

Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.