Muhlenberg organizes Songs in Solidarity

Students gathered in Miller Forum on Friday for an evening of community and togetherness. After the tumultuous election of Donald Trump to the United States presidency this past week, students have been searching for emotional support after the shocking results became public. Two participants in the Muhlenberg Theater Association decided to bring their fellow classmates together in song, to let each other know that they were not alone and they could all get through this together.

The A Cappella Council participated in the event, and the Chaimonics kicked off the evening with a rendition of Israeli singer Matisyahu’s song “One Day.” Later on, NoteWorthy gave a powerful performance of the song “Louder than Words,” which is from the musical Tick Tick Boom. This song featured a few poignant lyrics, particularly the line, “Why do we follow leaders who never lead?” For the rest of the night, the audience sang together while karaoke lyrics appeared on the projection screens. The songs played included Peter, Paul and Mary’s “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Hallelujah” by Rufus Wainwright, and “Wavin’ Flag” by K’naan. When Michael Jackson’s “Black or White” came on the screen, the students stood up and started singing and dancing. All the songs were about togetherness and love. The idea for the event came from MTA member Olivia Charendoff ‘20. “I went to the MTA meeting after the election,” she said. “I wanted something that we could do that felt like coming together that wasn’t specifically targeted at protesting, that was more like people coming together and having a cathartic experience of singing together.”

MTA President Becky Goodman ‘17 organized the event after hearing about Charendoff ’s idea. “She said she really just wanted to be in a room filled with people [singing], she said she would find that really helpful. I thought it was a really beautiful idea, something that was really simple to do.” Goodman worked in part with Dean Allison Gulati and campus Chaplain Callista Isabelle to bring the event to life.

“This event really speaks to the needs of the community,” Goodman said while the crowd sang Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” in the background. “Over seventy people were here at one point… I think that says that it was needed. We can see from the transition tonight, starting out with everyone sitting on the floor, kind of singing to show solidarity, to now, a mini-party going on in celebration of life and the future—I hope everyone leaves in a better spirit than they came in with, and that everyone found some allies in this space, people that they can trust.”

The event lasted an hour, but everyone there got up and sang as the night wore on. The evening ended on an emotional note, with the whole crowd linked arm-in-arm in a circle singing John Lennon’s song “Imagine.”

“I think [it’s important to use] this as a time for momentum and change,” Goodman said. “The culture of our school and how we view others [is affected by] these kinds of initiatives.” Goodman added that she would like to see more of this sort of outreach on campus in the future.

Overall, the evening was successful, and showed that a community of concerned people can come together in peace and express their support and trust in one another—and what better way to show that kind of love and support than with a night of music?