Spring Sing sprung from Greek roots

  UCLA Archives For 16 years Spring Sing was held at the
Hollywood Bowl. Chorus groups competed in five categories.

By Mary Williams
Daily Bruin Staff

It was a kinder, gentler time, when young bow-tie-wearing,
shirt-tucking fraternity men serenaded their favorite sororities to
win approval, giving rise to one of the most honored traditions at
UCLA: Spring Sing.

In 1944, World War II was still raging, the campus was still
growing and inter-fraternity competition was finding an outlet in a
debate over whose harmonies were most pleasing.

Over on fraternity row, a quartet of singers from Phi Kappa Psi
had earned the reputation of “Champion Serenaders of Sorority
Row.” The young men of Sigma Alpha Epsilon begged to differ,
however, and a competition was set up in Royce Hall.

Rules were drawn by none other than William C. Ackerman,
ASUCLA’s general manager and the namesake of Ackerman Student
Union, and the auditorium was packed on the night of the
face-off.

Phi Psi defeated its challengers and retained its title as
“Champion Serenaders.”

The next year, SAE, still unsatisfied, demanded a rematch. Again
in Royce Hall, this competition allowed other groups to get in on
the action. Nine organizations competed, and Phi Psi was again
declared the victor.

By now it was clear that this pesky question of which
organization could boast the best singers was not going to go
away.

In 1947 the event outgrew Royce Hall and was moved to the Open
Air Theater. When the theater was demolished in 1949 to make way
for the Medical Center, Spring Sing again had to find a new
home.

The 1949 competition was held in the Hollywood Bowl and it
continued at that venue for the next 16 years.

The 1950s marked a new height for Spring Sing, with then-actor
Ronald Reagan presiding over many of the competitions, and
celebrities lending their services as judges.

The winners were recorded and the records handed out with
yearbooks at the end of the year, as well as sold in the student
store.

The scope of these competitions is evident by their programs. In
1960 the program claimed that 2,000 students, in 60 entries,
competed in the preliminaries, narrowed down to 26 finalist
entries. The judging committee, formed by Associated Men’s
Students, had 50 members.

Entries in the five categories of Women’s, Men’s,
Novelty, Oddball and Instrumental came mostly from sororities and
fraternities, but the Hershey and Dykstra Hall dormitories
contributed a chorus, as did Douglass Hall.

The prestigious list of judges in 1960 included Johnny Mercer
and Spike Jones, among other composers and musical notables.

Pictures of the various groups reveal a different Spring Sing
than the one we find today. The nearly all-white women’s and
men’s competitors stood in their matching dresses
(below-the-knee skirts, of course) or tucked in, collared shirts
and pleated pants. Those in the oddball and novelty categories were
likely to don elaborate costumes.

An advertisement in the program, next to of one of these
photographs, offers a deal that is rarely seen in today’s
market.

“A 33 ½ LP quality album in hi-fi of the songs you
hear tonight. Sold exclusively through the ASUCLA Student Store for
$3.98,” it reads.

Six years later, in 1966, Pauley Pavilion opened and the Spring
Sing committee moved the event back home with the theme “Back
Where the Action Is.”

Spring Sing, while no longer in its heyday, was still going
strong. The crowd for that year’s competition filled the
pavilion and judges included Meredith Willson, who wrote “The
Music Man,” and actor James Garner.

By this time the entries represented more non-Greek
organizations. Hedrick, Rieber, Sproul, Dykstra and Hershey Halls
all competed in the contest.

Although 1966 had a large crowd, interest rapidly dwindled and
Spring Sing disappeared between 1969 to 1978.

In 1979 two students organized a “Greek Sing.” The
event recalled the roots of Spring Sing, a competition exclusive to
members of the Greek system. It was a huge success.

The next year the event was again expanded to a campus-wide
“All University Sing,” which also proved
successful.

In 1982 it was renamed Spring Sing and the competition was
rebuilt from the remnants of its former glory. The song list was
comprised entirely of Broadway hits and the judges’ panel
once again included famous names.

Spring Sing has been held annually from 1982 to today, and
continues to attract a large crowd.

Spectators are not, however, in store for the reserved
serenading of the original, 1944 competition.