Fully Charged, an acapella group at the University of New Haven that was founded about a year and a half ago, has recently taken the campus by storm.
(Photo obtained via Fully Charged’s Facebook)
President and co-founder of Fully Charged Paul Taylor said, “We have expanded our reach off campus (most notably the nearby VA Hospital), and are hoping to perform at a regional a capella competition in April and a wedding in October.”
They have performed at multiple events around school, such as happy birthday wishes for hire year round, but this past Valentine’s Day the club decided to host a perfectly romantic (or uniquely embarrassing) fundraiser.
The announcement of Sweetheart Serenades was happily greeted on social media by a few of the UNH community. Taylor said that his “favorite part of this event was the fact that we were able to deliver a unique gift that many people would not usually be in the position to give on Valentine’s Day.”
Kaitlyn White, treasurer of Fully Charged said, “My favorite part was spending Valentines Day putting a smile on other people’s faces. Whether it was the person we were singing to, their friends or significant other, or the people who were around watching the sing. It really was a great time!”
Most students chose to capitalize on the fascinatingly entertaining opportunity to really embarrass their friends, by not only choosing the song, but by choosing a series of actions, such as lying in someone’s bed singing to them while eating fruit.
The fundraiser was a creative way to showcase some of the talented students of UNH.
“I really enjoyed going around campus with everyone and seeing how people reacted to being serenaded. There was plenty of embarrassment and love to go around,” said Karina Irizarry.
Taylor added, “I especially enjoyed our performance of ‘I’ll Make Love to You’ by Boyz II Men in Bartels Hall because I could see that everyone in the dining hall was really enjoying our performance.
The Bartels performance narrowly topped our first performance of the day, when we actually woke a guy up with the same song. He was very…emotional about the whole experience; let’s call it ‘thrilled.’
We performed for President Kaplan and the Provost on Friday, and that was an interesting experience by itself. It’s not every day that you get to walk into the office of the person who runs your school and perform for them. He was really surprised – it was hilarious.”
Fully Charged brought a new idea to campus, which was entertaining for everyone involved.
For more information, Fully Charged practices Sundays from 6 to 9 p.m. in studio room 204 in the Beckerman Recreation Center. You can also email them at [email protected].
