Before holding auditions, two of Lafayette’s five a capella groups announced a big change: they would be switching to become “voice-specific.” Now, Cadence, Lafayette’s previously female-identifying a capella group, and Chorduroys, a formerly male-identifying a capella group, have officially opened their groups to singers of all gender identities, so long as they have a singing voice within the group’s specified range.
For the two groups, the process of switching over to be voice-specific was similar. Marisa Carroll ’25 and Anthony Ocasio ’24, the respective presidents of Cadence and Chorduroys, each brought the idea to the attention of their group’s executive board. After the suggestion was voted on and passed, group leadership began working on making the appropriate changes to club bylaws, OurCampus profiles and other group materials.
“It was practically unanimous,” Ocasio said. “We can’t have unanimous decisions so somebody had to abstain, but everybody was behind it.”
“Everybody was like, ‘Wait, why weren’t we doing this before?’” Carroll said.
Despite the similarity of these decisions, representatives from both groups said that there was no intentional collaboration or joint decision-making. Instead, the change was attributed to a common desire for diversity and inclusivity within each group — and the common thread of Cormac Hurley ’24.
Hurley, a member of the Chorduroys, advocated for inclusivity within the group and, in doing so, inspired his housemate Carroll to enact similar changes within Cadence.
“The first thing I did, which was last spring, is I actually emailed Tommy Lee,” Hurley said.
Lee was the assistant director of intercultural development for gender and sexuality programs before departing for Dickinson College in October.
“I kind of sent him a secret email and I was like, ‘What do you think of [a more gender neutral] a capella group’ … just having that approval [encouraged me],” Hurley said.
Both Carroll and Ocasio said that while they had considered a switch to be voice-specific in the past, it was Hurley’s prompting that finally caused the change. For both Cadence and Chorduroys, club leadership feels that there has been no impact outside of the desired inclusivity.
“[The voice] is definitely more important in a capella than how the group identifies,” Ocasio said. “The group sound has not changed. We definitely have stronger tenor 1 [presence] now.”
Tenor 1 is the highest voice type that Chorduroys members have. Cadence’s voices are all in the treble register.
“I just think it’s a step forward in a better direction for the group,” Carroll said. “It’s just more inclusive. We were never a group that was going to turn away anybody because of gender anyway, so [being voice-specific] just better fulfills our values as a group.”
“Having this change be so easy and having everyone be so welcomed about it – I feel like it just puts better energy out in our group and our community in general … we’re no longer a restricted place,” Hurley said.
