It’s a Saturday night and a group of twelve guys stand in a huddle in a dark parking lot. On the count of three they crack open bottles and toss back Yoo-hoo chocolate milk. This isn’t some sort of Greek hazing or pre-gaming ritual for Turtle, but a long-standing pre-performance tradition within the UMD Generics, the premiere male a-cappella group on campus.

The Generics is a diverse group from across the College Park campus, majoring in everything from business, to chemistry, to electrical engineering, and even bush trimming, at least, according to their Web site. The songs they perform are just as diverse as their majors, and at their most recent concert at the D.C.A-Cappella Festival at Georgetown University, the group performed “Butterfly” by Jason Mraz, “Okay Its Alright With Me” by Eric Hutchinson, “Bless the Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts, “Alright” by John Legend, and “Rock With You” by Michael Jackson.

“I enjoy singing Butterfly the most because the song has a lot of energy to it. It’s a challenging song to do, and I am a fan of Jason Mraz’s music,” says Gene Sun, the group’s acting business manager and a sophomore architecture major.

The group was founded 21 years ago by UMD student Richard Hsu, who was unavailable for contact for this piece. What began as an outlet for UMD male singers has evolved into a close-knit group of guys with their own jokes and traditions.

“When put alone in any space with any object, as a group, we can come up with a game to play. If we have a tennis ball we are out of control, so much so that they aren’t allowed at rehearsal anymore because it distracts us too much,” comments Jake Stuart, a sophomore communications major.

The group performs throughout the year both on and off campus. Two of their biggest shows SpamJAM and SpamFEST, are at the end of the fall and spring semesters, respectively, have been put on under the same titles since the group’s inception more than 20 years ago.

Off-Campus performances make up a big part of the group’s focus. “The first road trip I had with the group, 4 of us started driving at 11PM to head to Boston. There was some ridiculous accident off exit 5 on the NJ Turnpike that kept us sitting there for 7 hours,” recalls former Generics member John Liu, now an electrical engineer specializing in hazardous location regulatory requirements.

Traditions within the group run deep, but members, past and present, are not allowed to talk about them with non-Generics members. “There are a lot of traditions that stay within the group, that only guys that have been in the group know,” says Stuart.

The group has plenty of time to bond, with two-hour rehearsals three times a week, and regular performances throughout the semester. By audition-only, members get voted into the group by a general consensus. After being selected into the group, new members are put into a ranking system. Described by Liu, “Your rank in the group is based on when you were voted into the group and how long you’ve remained an active member. It plays a part for sleeping arrangements on road trips. Good luck getting the nice couch with a low rank- or having to run errands. Anyone with higher rank can force you to recite the barcode. If you don’t, then you’re on the receiving end of unpleasantness.”

The group’s next performance, the infamous SpamJAM, is on December 5th in the Grand Ballroom at the Stamp Student Union. Tickets are $5 for UMD students. The concert begins at 7 pm.

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