The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Monday, September 12, 2016 — 3A

Students display 2,977 American flags on 
Diag to honor, remember 9/11 victims

On 
Sunday, 
the 
15th 

anniversary 
of 
the 
attacks 

on Sept. 11, the University of 
Michigan’s chapter of Young 
Americans 
for 
Freedom 

organized their annual tribute 
on the Diag.

The display of 2,977 American 

flags — which represent each 
loss of life from the tragedy 
— attracted the attention of 
students, faculty and members 
of the Ann Arbor community. 

LSA junior Dominic Stanchina, 
vice chairman of YAF, noted 
the unique qualities of his 
organization’s tribute.

“It’s attention-getting,” he 

said. “It’s a visually stimulating 
piece so we can catch people off 
guard. They see almost 3,000 
flags for 3,000 victims and it 
(makes) them pause.”

YAF 
secretary 
Derek 

Loewen, an LSA junior, said the 
need for the commemoration 
is especially relevant in a time 
when the threat of terrorism 
still persists.

“It happened 15 years ago 

and people are already starting 
to forget about the events, 
when that sort of terrorism is 
still relevant today,” he said. 
“We want to remember and pay 
respects to those that did lose 
their lives, but also to remind 
people that there is still an 
active threat today and we can’t 
lose sight of that.”

According to its website, 

Young Americans for Freedom 
is 
a 
nonprofit, 
educational 

organization that devotes itself 

NEIL SCHWARTZ
Daily Staff Reporter

Men’s Glee Club hosts contest to 
find new song lyrics for bicentenial

Winning submission to be performed during 
November 2017 festivities

EMILY MIILLER 
Daily Staff Reporter

The University of Michigan 

Men’s Glee Club is preparing 
early 
for 
the 
University’s 

bicentennial 
celebration, 

launching a contest earlier this 
month for a lyricist for a new 
song they plan to perform at 
the November 2017 festivities.

All students, alumni, and 

faculty members are eligible 
to submit to the contest. It 
will close on November 15th, 
after which a committee of 
the Glee Club’s director, the 
song’s composer and student 
members of the Glee Club will 
choose the winning lyrics. 
The song will be added to a 
Michigan 
songbook, 
which 

contains 
all 
the 
Michigan 

songs ever written including 
“The 
Victors” 
and 
other 

traditions.

Eugene Rogers, associate 

director 
of 
choirs 
and 

conducting with School of 
Music, Theater, Dance and 
the director of the Men’s Glee 
Club, said there is a precedent 
for this type of contest at the 
University, tracing back to the 
alma mater, “Yellow and Blue.”

“Charles Mills Gayley wrote 

the very first Michigan song, 
the alma mater,” he said. “He 
responded to a student ad and 
received twenty dollars for 
writing the alma mater as we 
know today. And that’s the 
case for a lot of our Michigan 
songs.”

After the committee has 

chosen the lyrics for the new 
song, Kristin Kuster, professor 
of composition with SMTD, 
will compose a piece of music 
to accompany them.

Rogers said Kuster is the 

first woman to compose for 
the Men’s Glee Club and add 
to the compilation of Michigan 
songs.

“So that’s for us really a 

triple excitement because we 
have a brand new text, a brand 
new piece written by a new 
composer, as well as the first 
female professor to compose 
it,” Rogers said.

Kuster noted she is only 

the second woman to receive 
tenure in the Composition 
Department at the University 
and said she is honored that 
the Glee Club asked her to 
write the piece.

“I am grateful to be part 

of this important milestone 
in 
the 
Men’s 
Glee 
Club’s 

commissioning 
history,” 

Kuster said. “I am committed 
to 
advocating 
for 
the 

underrepresented composers 
in our contemporary classical 
music scene; namely, female 
composers 
and 
composers 

of color. My hope is that my 
presence 
in 
commissioning 

projects such as this will help 
transform our field into a more 
inclusive, and therefore more 
enriched culture of music 
making.”

She said she will have 

ample inspiration to help her 
compose the song, coming 
particularly from students.

“This opportunity to write 

again for our Men’s Glee Club 
is thrilling, and I am excited,” 
Kuster said. “The inspiration 
for writing music for this group 
for this occasion surrounds us 
on our campus: it is exuded 
by all of our students, across 
every discipline.”

The piece, she added, will be 

inspired by a series of emotions 

she’s oberved on campus.

The expressions of nostalgia, 

pride, and/or camaraderie that 
emerge from this new piece 
will be dependent on the lyrics 
we choose, yet also will drench 
every single note on the page,” 
she said. “All of these feelings 
will 
inevitably 
be 
present 

because I adore this place.”

This new Michigan song, 

once completed, will premier 
at the Glee Club’s spring 
concert in April. They will 
also perform the new song 
during their annual spring 
tour, which has a bicentennial 
theme this year. Finally, it 
will be performed as a part of 
the University’s bicentennial 
celebrations in November 2017.

SMTD 
senior 
Patrick 

Kiessling, president of the 
Glee Club, said he was looking 
forward to participating in 
this new part of the Glee Club’s 
repertoire.

“To 
be 
commissioning 

and helping create a new 
Michigan song with the Glee 
Club, that will be in this 
Michigan 
songbook 
and 
a 

part of the Glee Club and the 
University’s history for the 
next years to come, is truly a 
unique privilege,” Kiessling 
said. “We’re really excited to 
be writing the first chapter of 
this new song’s story with the 
Glee Club.”

The Glee Club sings a few 

selections from the Michigan 
songbook 
at 
their 
end-of-

semester 
concerts, 
and 

Kiessling 
said 
finding 
out 

which songs is always a large 
part of preparation for these 
concerts.

“We always enjoy learning 

which Michigan songs we

Young Americans for Freedom recognizes lives lost fifteen years ago in 
campus commemoration 

See GLEE, Page 7A

See FLAGS, Page 7A

