Foolsapalooza

Hopefully you were so curious about that title that you’ve continued reading this blog post. If so, hello! This blog post will be about Holy Cross’ only co-ed a cappella group, Fools on the Hill. There we (most of us) are below!

 

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Fools Fam! 

Last week Friday, we had our biggest campus event Foolsapalooza. It’s our end of the year a cappella show, where Fools and other Holy Cross and off-campus a cappella groups perform as well! This year’s turnout was incredible and the energy in the room was just fantastic!

We advertised with some foolish facts about each member on our Facebook page! Might regret adding this photo later, but here is a little snippet of it!

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Some of the songs we sang were All These Things I’ve Done by the Killers, Water Under the Bridge by Adele, Sweater Weather  by the Neighbourhood, I See Fire by Ed Sheeran, and a really fun Queen Medley. As you can see, there’s no real common thread or certain genre — it’s just the love of all kinds of music that makes a cappella groups so fun.

Usual Holy Cross a cappella performances happen right in front of the Hogan cafe, Cool Beans, on different days during the week. However, this event was held in the Hogan Ballroom so that friends and family could attend as well.

Speaking of family, Foolsapalooza (coincidentally on April Fools Day) was my sister’s birthday, so she too attended the show and I got to sing my solo to her! Here we are after the show below:

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Yay, family.

If you love music and everything about it, you can join one of these groups! Many of the groups have YouTube channels, so I’ll post the names of the groups below so you can check out any videos. If a cappella isn’t an interest of yours, there are also many choir groups you can join as well! OR, you can do both!

A cappella groups:

Sons of Pitches

The Delilahs

Off the Record

Sound of St. James

And of course, Fools on the Hill.

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So much thanks to Colleen Paddock '16 for taking such lovely photos!

Thanks to Colleen Paddock ’16 for taking such lovely photos!

So, the blog take-away is: If I’m having a rough week at Holy Cross (which won’t necessarily be a normal occurrence), I can always go grab a coffee and head to any of the a cappella performances that week. AND if I love music, then I can join one of the many different music-based groups on campus! How exciting. 

Baltimore

Hi, guys.

This blog post will definitely have a different feel from my others. As many know, hundreds of thousands of people have reacted to the death of Freddie Gray in numerous ways. For Baltimore, many (but not all) reacted with violence, rioting, and looting.

Situations were so intense that the National Guard had to step in and a curfew was declared in the city. However, the pleas that “Black Lives Matter” still rightly-so resounded across the world, across the Holy Cross campus.

This afternoon, a prayer was held by the campus ministry leaders and chaplains outside of Hogan. It was a simple program, one that got directly to the point. We stood there, students and faculty, praying and hoping for justice. We wanted justice not only in Baltimore, but everywhere.

Here is a section from the Invitation to Pledge we all read aloud:

“WE pledge to examine our own biases and positions of privilege through self-reflection, and earnestly work to resolve them.

WE pledge to live by compassion and be consciously inclusive of all individuals.

WE pledge to affirm the value of diversity.

WE pledge to promote understanding, inclusion, and mutual respect, and thus build community within all races, ethnicities, and cultures.

WE pledge to transform our institutions into authentically anti-racist and anti-oppressive communities of action.

WE pledge to advocate for justice, demand equal opportunity for all and so help create a beloved community for everyone to share.”

I have the program and pictures attached below. The photos do not accurately display how many people were gathered today. 

 

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