Celebrating 20 years of singing

Members of the Gentlemen Callers will celebrate their 20th anniversary on Saturday, April 4 at 8 p.m., with a reunion concert in Cole Memorial Chapel that will bring back to campus more than 30 alums who were members. Also a special "surprise" guest singer will be featured. Hint: he wears bow ties and baseball caps a lot, plays a cello.

The beginning of the Gentlemen Callers dates back to a woman. Twenty years ago as Wheaton was welcoming its first co-educational class during a meet-and-greet with parents and students, retired Dean of Students Sue Alexander stood shaking hands and asking each male student she encountered a very important question: "Can you sing?"

That question and the resulting yeses would eventually lead to the creation of the all-male a cappella singing group. Dean Sue was trying to round up young men to sing a special song for the first time that she and then Assistant Director of Student Activities Kristen Renn had written. The song honors Wheaton's history as a women's college and notes the new chapter the entering men would be adding. Titled "Men of '92," it recognizes the first co-ed class the college would graduate in 1992.

The song was sung during the traditional candlelight opening day ceremony in 1988. The late Wade Johnson, a member of the Class of 1992, was one of the students who ended up singing that fall day. And that spring, he founded Gentlemen Callers, which to date has released seven CDs.

Now the song that help start it all is one of the group's signature songs. Members sang it during homecoming in the fall with special guest Interim Dean of Students Jack Kuszaj joining in. [Kuszaj also sang it 20 years ago in the chapel as a last-minute Dean Sue recruit.] The Gentlemen Callers will sing it again at the April 4 concert and during Commencement/Reunion Weekend.It is perfect for celebrating 20 years of co-education as well as the group, said senior Alex Grover, the Gentlemen Callers president and musical director. "Most a cappella groups don't have a song that is specifically about their group and college," said the music major.

The song is important to us and to the campus because it represents the GCs, and everything we stand for--men at Wheaton, singing and having fun. "Kuszaj notes how special the song is: "If you listen to the lyrics, 'We join you Eliza's daughters/ We're Eliza's sons,' the song adds men and connects them to Wheaton's legacy as a women's college. So it's a very moving song."

In addition to "Men of  '92", the Gentlemen Callers (www.gentlemencallers.com) will perform many songs they've sung over the past two decades as well as the current repertoire-from folk to pop. Among the alums scheduled to return is Joe Barbato '06, who currently sings in a professional a cappella group called Overboard."

"Joe was a senior when I was a freshman. He was instrumental in my acclimation to the group," said Grover. "Joe took me under his wing. Without his guidance and my opportunity to watch him run the group, I would not have the skills I have in leading the current group."

In addition to Grover, members of the current group are: Norman Abbott '11 (co-archivist), Ross Brennan '12, Michael Bryant '12, David Eklund '11 (business manager), Kyle Glass '11, Cory Kraft '09 (social chair), William Levenson '09, Eli Lovely '10, Paul Roell '11 (co-pitchpipe), John Rowe '09 (co-archivist), Austin Simko '09, Dana Strom '10, Raphael  Sweet '12 and Casey Williams '11.

Admission to the concert is free. The Gentlemen Callers will be selling a 20th anniversary CD compilation of re-mastered selections from all seven previous CDs for $15.