By Mallory Sherwood, Features Editor
The International Students Association and Hispanos Unidos dropped out of the Sing Song competition this year because of a lack of participation, but members expect to return prepared for the 50th Sing Song in 2006.
Jennifer Fuentes, president of Hispanos Unidos and junior art major from Abilene, said she expects the organization to be in the competition next spring.
“Our goal is to be there and to be ready for the 50th anniversary of Sing Song, which is next year,” Fuentes said. “I know a lot of people were disappointed that we had to drop out this year, but we really want to get people interested in doing it and getting ready before time.”
Many who were interested will be able to participate in their class or social club’s Sing Song performance.
A minimum of 35 members is needed to participate in Sing Song, and only 20 from Hispanos Unidos showed interest this year, although several members began planning early, she said.
Debbie Ortiz and Erica Aguilar are two of those members.
“We were ecstatic when we were invited to participate in Sing Song,” said Ortiz, junior social work major from Mesquite. “For weeks straight, we couldn’t stop talking about how cool this was going to be.”
The women said they worked together to plan the organization’s Sing Song act.
“We had themes and songs already picked out,” said Aguilar, senior communication disorders major from Big Spring. “The theme was in Spanish, but in English it translated to ‘Without Boundaries.’ We were doing Latin music from the 1950s like Tito Puente and Richy Valens.”
Both were disappointed when the organization had to withdraw.
“It was very disappointing because we knew that our organization could have created an act like nothing seen before in Sing Song,” Ortiz said. “We hope that our members will see that creative doors are being opened for us, and that they’ll share in the excitement of stepping into something different.”
Many of the members in Hispanos Unidos are new to ACU this year and didn’t know about the excitement that surrounds Sing Song. Fuentes said the group is working to change that.
“We want students to get involved and to be excited about Sing Song,” Fuentes said. “We are not typically known as a group that would participate in Sing Song, but everyone wants us there and is happy we are going to participate; it just hasn’t happened for us yet.”
The organization wants to begin planning early for next year.
“Since it is the centennial, we are going to be involved,” Aguilar said. “We are having elections in March, and one of the offices will be Sing Song. We will have an early jump and be prepared for next year.”
Fuentes said she’s also looking forward to next year.
“As a group, we are real excited about the overall vision for Sing Song,” Fuentes said, “and for the relationships that will be built between all the groups on campus through Sing Song.”
