Doox of Yale
Students planning to audition for one of the 16 a cappella groups overseen by the Yale Singing Group Council this year signed up by swiping their Yale ID cards rather than manually entering their names on a computer, a process that has caused logistical difficulties in the past.
The Singing Group Council switched to the use of swipe readers at the annual Dwight Hall Jam on Thursday in hopes of streamlining data collection during a cappella rush, according to Lauren Ribordy ’19, co-chair of the Singing Group Council.
While the previous procedure forced students to manually log data into a spreadsheet — entering their names and email addresses — the swipe reader has eliminated that need. Now, all the required data can be collected with a single swipe.
“Just judging by the explosion of my inbox in the days following Dwight Jam, it seems that many rushees took advantage of the ability to sign up via email after Dwight Jam,” said Dennis Brookner ’19, co-chair of the Singing Group. “Because every attendee of Dwight Jam swiped into the event, we were able to email all of them explaining that email signups were an option, and how they worked.”
According to Ribordy, the motivation for introducing updated technology was twofold: The council wanted both to speed up the audition process and to streamline the collection of names and email addresses.
The three co-chairs of the Singing Group Council — Ribordy, Brookner and Emil Beckford ’19 — came to a consensus about the desirability of the updated technology after testing its efficiency as a check-in method at a variety of events.
“We were trying to step into the 21st century,” Ribordy said. “We’ll probably continue using them in some capacity going forward, but we still need to assess feedback from the groups.”
Ethan Treiman ’21, the pitch for the Duke’s Men of Yale, said the technology functioned “pretty seamlessly” and helped the group collect important information quickly.
Ribordy said that the Singing Group Council will hold a town hall to come to a final decision about continued use of the new technology at a later date.
A cappella rush will conclude next week during tap night, when each group will serenade members of its new tap class in dining halls and residential colleges.
Jever Mariwala | jever.mariwala@yale.edu
Correction, Sep 5: A previous version of this article mistakenly stated that there are 16 a capella groups on campus. In fact, these 16 groups are managed by the Yale Singing Group Council, an umbrella organization that does not oversee all singing groups.