Kalamazoo College Guild of Change Ringers

Recent Alumnus Receives Young Ringer Award

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A recent Kalamazoo College alumnus is among this year’s recipients of a national change-ringing award named after a longtime and beloved former K professor. 

The North American Guild of Change Ringers has presented Xavier Silva ’24 with the Jeff Smith Memorial Young Ringer Award. Since 2019, the honor has recognized guild members 22 years of age or younger who have rung at least one quarter peal in the past year. 

Silva, a math and computer science double major at K, has rung three quarter peals, the first in October 2023. A quarter peal contains a series of at least 1,250 permutations rung in rapid succession according to rules that ensure no permutations are repeated. A quarter peal takes about 45 minutes of concentration and cooperation among a band of ringers, creating beautiful sounds. 

Silva arrived at K as a Heyl scholar and quickly began change ringing for several public events. During his senior year, he was the K student contact for the community ringers at Stetson Chapel and coordinated the Kalamazoo College Ringers for weekly Community Reflections gatherings and the Day of Gracious Living. 

“Change ringing has given me a meaningful experience through the challenge of ringing itself and through the people I’ve met,” Silva said. “It has combined two things I’m passionate about, music and math, in a challenging yet incredibly fun way. There is also an incredible international community that has welcomed me with open arms through a shared love and experience. If I had never started bell ringing, I would have missed out on the community that has surrounded and supported me. It has been a pleasure to ring at K.”

Young Ringer Award recipient with two others
The North American Guild of Change Ringers has presented Xavier Silva ’24 (middle) with the Jeff Smith Memorial Young Ringer Award.

The ancient art of English change ringing involves a group ringing bells in structured, unique permutations in rapid succession. The practice requires training, concentration and teamwork and leads to great satisfaction and strong interpersonal bonds. 

In addition to teaching mathematics, Jeff Smith taught hundreds of students to ring changes and inspired the College to install change ringing bells at Stetson Chapel on campus. Smith died in April 2019 at the age of 88, but spent nearly 30 years of his career at K. A scholarship in his name now supports students in financial need. 

For more information on the North American Guild of Change Ringers, visit its website. 

Learn the Ropes of Change Ringing at K

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Michiganders’ lone opportunity to participate in an international event and learn the ropes of change ringing will be at Kalamazoo College. K will welcome the public into Stetson Chapel to see a demonstration of English change ringing on tower and hand bells by members of the Kalamazoo College Guild of Change Ringers at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 10.

Chapel Bell Change Ringing at Stetson Chapel
The Kalamazoo College Guild of Change Ringers, seen here during President Jorge G. Gonzalez’s inauguration in November 2016, will demonstrate English change ringing on tower and hand bells on Sept. 10 at Stetson Chapel.

The event, coordinated with similar events at some of the 50 towers in the United States and Canada through the North American Guild of Change Ringers, will include an explanation of change ringing and the history of K’s chapel bells. Change ringing provides mild aerobic activity and intellectual challenges. After several weeks of lessons and commitment to regular practice, almost anyone can become a ringer. This open day will provide those interested an introduction to a hobby with endless fascination and continuing challenges. All ages are welcome; minors must be accompanied by an adult.

In change ringing, bells are rung one after another in continuously changing sequences determined by mathematical rules, producing a cascading sound rather than traditional tunes. K’s change-ringing bells are the only ones of their kind in Michigan.

The tower at Stetson Chapel was empty for its first half-century. Professor Emeritus of Mathematics T. Jefferson Smith first had the idea that it might house a set of change ringing bells after learning to ring at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. After a study to determine whether the tower could withstand eight swinging bells weighing several hundred pounds each, college trustee Maynard Conrad raised funds to buy and install the bells. In 1983, the College’s sesquicentennial, President David Breneman gave the project the final go-ahead. The bells were cast at Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London and installed June 2, 1984, at K.

Each bell bears the college motto – Lux Esto, meaning “Be Light” – and is inscribed with a Biblical quotation and the name of a person associated with the college during its first century. Many people have learned to ring at K including students, faculty, staff, alumni and area residents. Stetson Chapel has been the site of many change ringing firsts and records, including the longest continuous ringing, or peal, in North America.

For more information on the event, contact Margaret Miller at 269-365-2823 or kzooringers@yahoo.com.