Pi Kappa dropped out of Sing Song a week before the Spring semester began. The men’s social club intended on having a Beach Boys theme to fit in with the overall theme of Sing Song Vacation.
The set list is normally made permanent in early November so that each act will be given the proper amount of time on stage. After that, acts are not allowed to drop out. Tom Craig, Director of Student Activities and Productions, said that usually, if clubs are having trouble, they are able to talk with the club to help them work it out.
Pi Kappa was an exception to this rule. Robert Hull, junior piano major from Ripon, California, and president of Pi Kappa, said the officers discussed it over break.
“We decided that rather than throw something together with not enough people it would be better to pull out altogether and focus on other things,” Hull said.
This will be the second year in a row that Pi Kappa has not had an act in Sing Song. Last year Pi Kappa served as Sing Song security, keeping participants in designated areas and helping to direct acts, telling them where to go and when. They hope to serve in a similar capacity this year.
Pi Kappa was not the only group affected by this decision. The set list for Sing Song had to go through some revisions because of the dropped act.
“It’s a domino effect, so when one thing goes away another has to go away,” Craig said.
The downstage acts, involving hosts/hostesses, dance teams and Freshman Krewe, are timed so that the upstage acts, involving traditional Sing Song acts, have enough time to set up and tear down each act.
When Pi Kappa dropped out of Sing Song, a downstage act also had to be dropped. The dropped downstage act was chosen by looking at what numbers are planned, who sings what and which acts are the strongest and weakest elements of the show.
Pi Kappa hopes to grow in numbers and commitment so that they can participate in next year’s Sing Song show.
“I said last year that we’d like to participate,” Hull said. “Obviously that didn’t happen but hopefully next year we can do it.”
