The excitement of a recent trip to Washington, D.C., for the University Singers has somewhat died down and soon a large picture of the cast in front of the White House will be the only physical reminder, marking an accomplishment members of the Singers will never forget.
According to the group's director Jeffrey Carter, who is in his second year as director of University Singers, this once-in-a-lifetime trip was granted through constant persistence in a nine-month span which included four letters and endless phone calls to bring his vision of a White House trip to fruition. The group heard about the trip for the first time when Carter finally got his letter of acceptance two weeks before Thanksgiving.
The group of 32 students left Dec. 16, and the next morning they attended a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.
Juniors Molly Malone and Brian Paulsen presented the wreath at the tomb. According to freshman Cory Miller, the cast voted for Malone and Paulsen because they were both influential figures in Singers and represented the group well.
The second wreath laying was for a Ball State graduate, Lt. General Timothy Maude, who was killed in the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon. According to Carter, Maude was a ranking Pentagon Officer from Greenfield who received a master's degree at Ball State. The group will send a video of the ceremony to Maude's family. The Singers also visited with Indiana Congressman Mike Pence at the Capitol and sang a Christmas medley at the Pentagon. "It was hard to see the damage," Malone said. "It was different to be in there and see the people walking around, going about their every day lives." Although members of the cast were affected by the damage to the Pentagon, Malone said the audience was cheerful as they sang and clapped along. A performance at a shopping mall in suburban Washington for the general public even brought 10 Ball State alumni who now live in the surrounding area. "It was a great thing - not only was it a public performance at the mall and a private performance at the Pentagon and White House, but we also made some life memories and served the community as a university. One of the things the Singers tries to do is serve the university," Carter said. The next morning, the group's charter bus passed three security checkpoints to take them to the White House, where they entertained members of the White House staff, their families and firemen and policemen from suburban Virginia and Maryland. According to Carter, the audience was receptive to their songs, despite the heightened security. A particular song even brought a woman in the audience to tears, Carter said. "Everybody was so happy. It was quite a privilege to be let in these places," Malone said. "To be able to sing in there was even better. Being a musician - that's why we do it. It's more for others than ourselves." After a performance at NASA Headquarters, the group loaded the bus and arrived back in Indiana at dawn on Dec. 19. To Carter's knowledge, the group was the first non-military group to enter the Pentagon since Sept. 11. "These students are quality individuals who have a flair for entertaining," he said. According to Miller, the impact they had on the audience in several of the places was overwhelming because they didn't know what to expect. As a new member of the cast, Miller never imagined he'd have an opportunity to visit Washington beyond the traditional vacation to the capital. While taking it all in, Miller said the group will probably never again have an opportunity quite like this. "We will have great opportunities in the future," Miller said. "But to be where we performed and at this time - the impact won't be as great."
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