COLUMN: A real example of harmony

From Josh Callahan's, "Under Construction," Fall '99 From Josh Callahan's, "Under Construction," Fall '99In the midst of Saturday night's rockin' show by two Penn a cappella groups -- Chord on Blues and Quaker Notes -- it was hard not to notice the harmony. But to see where that sound was coming from while Chord was onstage was downright surprising. The 12 current members of Chord on Blues are black, Asian, Indian and white. We are not talking about a group with token diversity -- there literally was no distinction between majority and minority on the Dunlop Auditorium stage. Amidst all the talk of a new Asian cultural center, the new Casa Latina, the United Minorities Council's Unity Week and every other self-segregating activity that promotes itself up and down Locust Walk, it is easy to forget that Penn accepts students from diverse backgrounds with the intention that they should interact. Yet despite all the potential, Chord on Blues still stands out. Members of Chord said they have never been directly asked about their diversity before. And they are quick to add that they make no attempt to construct diversity, saying that the 15-year-old group hasn't always been this mixed. Now that they have a name for being diverse, however, it is something Chord members say that they are proud of and expect to continue. Rory Braithwaite, the group's music director, said the diversity of the group mainly stems from having a wide repertoire of song styles that attract a wide variety of people. That sentiment was played out to the nth degree on Saturday, as songs from Michael Jackson, Foo Fighters, Marvin Gaye and George Michael were all performed. They even sang a traditional barbershop quartet number with the group's alumni who were in town for the show. "A lot of groups are known for doing [one type of song]," Chord president Ross Josephson said. "We are known for doing a huge variety of things and people never know what they are going to see at shows. "I think it perpetuates itself. We sing different types of things, and it encourages more different types of people to try out with us. They aren't warded off by the fact that this group is only represented by [one] type of person." The diversity of music flows from allowing their members to be individuals, according to Josephson. Where other campus organizations push people to act in the same way and assimilate to the existing mold of the group, one of Chord's big attractions is that it encourages everyone to contribute to the group while retaining their individuality. He pointed to the song selection process at the beginning of a semester as a prime example. Each group member brings in any song he wants Chord to try out, without any restrictions on style or age. Sam Zeller, who chaired the fall show, thinks the performances -- even more than the song selection -- help in highlighting the group's diversity. With friends of the singers making up the majority of the audience, the spectators become as diverse a crowd as the entertainers onstage. It makes it obvious that Chord is open to people from all backgrounds. Zeller participated in a multiracial choir in high school, so when he came to Penn and looked at a cappella groups to join, he said he quickly noticed that Chord "definitely had something that other groups were lacking." The diversity reaches even to the management of the group. Senior Rory Braithwaite (black) is the music director and does a large part of the music arranging, while junior Ross Josephson (white) is the group's president and handles most of the administrative details. Chord's diversity doesn't just cut across race lines either, as in their limited spare time the guys can be found in theatre productions, in the jazz band, on varsity athletic teams, at fraternity meetings and in ROTC. They also represent Wharton, the College and Engineering. Is there another Penn group as -- excuse the pun -- harmonious as Chord? Maybe what these 12 guys have formed isn't as surprising as it seems. Maybe there are lots of examples of people with similar interests and skills forming a group with more than just one or two cultures represented. But often here it feels like that isn't the case. That everyone is more interested in pointing out the segregation that divides the campus in so many ways. One would like to think that the show Saturday night was part of a growing trend but it is difficult to gauge such things. There seems to be no magic spark that Penn can capture and ingrain in other campus groups. It just takes small pockets of individuals who decide that a love for an activity -- music in Chord's case -- is enough to supercede all other considerations.