Although Freshman Week safety seminars instruct lone nocturnal walkers how to avoid an attack, nothing was mentioned about how to avoid a serenade.
Wigglesworth resident Jennifer N. Ntiri ’07 was surrounded by an unknown a capella group on the morning of Wednesday, September 24 at approximately 12:15 a.m. as she was entering her dorm. After forming a semi-circle around Ntiri, about twenty males began to sing.
“My ID card has a tendency not to work, so I usually have to swipe it four or five times,” says Ntiri. “By the time the door unlocked, the group had surrounded me.”
For the past week, musical groups have been inducting students into their troupes by making unexpected appearances at new members’ dorms, but this surprising serenade was slightly alarming to Ntiri because she had not auditioned for any of the groups, let alone a men’s chorus.
“I could see them coming down the stairwell which connects the library area to outside of Wigglesworth, but they had already surrounded me once I had finally unlocked the door. I just froze when they began to sing,” says Ntiri.
After singing a few verses, which Ntiri thinks were in Latin, one of the singers informed his fellow performers that they were at the wrong Wigg entryway. Without speaking to or looking at Ntiri, the group disappeared into the night.
Ntiri was returning from dance practice so her long hair was pulled back loosely, but she does not understand how the singers could have mistaken her for their intended inductee, especially since the area was well-lit.
“I don’t think any of the singers were smiling,” says Ntiri. “All of them were wearing prom-like tuxedos with their hair slicked back. I wish I knew which group it was.”
According to Ntiri, she was the sole witness to this a capella attack.
“The whole experience was weird,” she says with a shudder. “Why wouldn’t they double check the person they were supposed to induct?”
