Ancient Gleeks

Glee redefined what it means to be different, a little off-center, or just plain weird, leaving a mammoth footprint in pop culture and the hearts of the underdog in us all. You may have wondered why then Vassar, in its culture of quirk, and with a thriving a cappella scene doesn’t have a glee-club. Well, it’s probably because we’ve been there and done that.

In the winter of 1882, then director of the School of Music, Professor Frederick Ritter organized VC’s first glee club. It was a resounding (no pun intended) success spawning numerous concerts with the glee clubs of MIT, Smith, Princeton, Harvard and other colleges, and performances  and concerts across the country.

Although we do know that the glee scene at VC still existed through the late 1950s, it is unclear what exactly became of it, or when exactly whatever it is happened. Perhaps we simply evolved from Glee to Pitch Perfect? In any case, we do know that while the glee scene lasted, it featured some pretty famous and controversial alumnae, including the eternally boss Edna St. Vincent Millay and Vassar’s first black graduate, Anita Hemmings.

Although our a capella scene is pretty great, it might be awesome to gleek out again though, no?