The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Love Lift Us Up

Over and over again, a phrase was repeated Tuesday night in the Engineering Building lecture hall.

"Oh dear Lord," a collection of nearly 30 voices sang, "I am committed."

Committed they were, as members of Voices of Inspiration stayed for three and a half hours, perfecting each minor detail. They had much to accomplish as notes had to be in tune, harmonies to blend with melodies and words memorized.

Though they had work to do, members say Voices of Inspiration, at its heart, acts as an institution of melodious ministry.

The gospel choir and registered student organization participates yearly in vigils, memorial services and concerts, servicing the community - and its choir members - with inspiration and positive energy.

But, member Kevin Kirkwood said, the choir started as a "fluke."

The year was 1980, and the SIUC production of "Odyssey Under the Rainbow," needed a choir for a portion of the show. A group of student singers formed, and Voices has been singing ever since.

Voices of Inspiration has traveled all over the country and performed with gospel artists Karen Clark-Sheard, Richard Smallwood and Marvin Sapp. Each year, the choir has two concerts and participates in the annual AIDS Awareness Week.

Through practices and performances, Kirkwood said members band together for love and support.

"We are a family-oriented group," he said. "We act as a home away from home."

When she arrived in Carbondale four years ago, Titilayo Ogunsola hardly knew anyone. No one from her graduating high school class but her chose to attend SIUC.

Accepting the invitation of her residence hall suitemate, Ogunsola went to an information meeting on Voices of Inspiration. She said she was relieved to find peers who shared both her love for God and song.

"They accepted me as their friend," said Ogunsola, who is this year's vice president. "I feel comfortable around these people who I have grown to love and think of as my brothers and sisters."

Member April Threatt is approaching her second year in the choir. Raised in the church, she has sung in many choirs but did not get involved with Voices of Inspiration until her sophomore year, but she, too, attests to the friendships of the group.

"I really feel close to the people I have met through this choir," Threatt said.

Voices of Inspiration does not only provide a family-oriented atmosphere - it creates them.

"I met my wife through this choir," said faculty adviser Juan Maultsby, who has been involved with the choir since 1990. "I have known four or five other couples who have married through Voices of Inspiration. My lifelong lasting friends - I mean my closest friends - are from this choir."

Maultsby said he continues to keep in touch with many of the people he has met through the choir. He also said that Voices of Inspiration strives to spread ministry through song.

"God is a fixture in the group," Maultsby said. "The energy that they give when you see them perform and sing together is like no other. It makes you want to just get in and blow. It makes you want to sing."

Though the choir had no formal beginning, members say their group continues to grow as a mouthpiece for the gospel and campus communities.

"This is the end result, right here," Kirkwood said. "Almost 25 years later, the choir is still in full effect. We still have a nice number of people who are trying to join our choir. We are a full voice at SIUC. We will be heard."

Factoid: The choir is open to all majors and all denominations. Weekly practices are Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. in room 111 in Engineering Building A.

 

 

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