Posted on 12/05/2025 1:30:32 PM PST by WhiteHatBobby0701
An a cappella group at Kent State University in Ohio allegedly banned white students from auditioning for certain solos and disciplined a longtime member for questioning the race-based policy.
Emails obtained by Campus Reform display how Vocal Intensity A Cappella limited certain solos to “people of color,” claiming white students would be engaging in “cultural appropriation” if they were to perform them.
Mark Phillips, a three-year member and the a cappella group’s beatboxer, contacted a board member to inquire about how the exclusion of white students aligned with Kent State’s anti-discrimination policies. Phillips suggested the limitation seemed “at odds with equal opportunity” in his message to the executive board.
“I fully respect concerns about authenticity, but I also believe that whoever gives the strongest performance should be given the chance,” he wrote. “Art, music, and culture are meant to be shared and celebrated, not gatekept.”
In response, the board accused him of violating the university’s anti-discrimination policy, placed him on probation, and scheduled a disciplinary hearing requiring him to “plead his case” before the entire group.
The board later reaffirmed its position, confirming that the solos would remain restricted to black students unless overturned by a vote.
According to the group’s constitution, discrimination is prohibited on the basis of race, and Kent State University’s policy also bans racial discrimination and specifically retaliation against students who challenge it.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act earlier this year, restricting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) practices across public universities. The anti-DEI bill explicitly prohibits race-based advantages, and to “provide [students] equality of opportunity, with regard to those individuals’ race,” as stated in Senate Bill 1.
While university guidelines prohibit discrimination, the board prepared a process that included a closed board hearing, potential permanent removal, and even a potential several months-long suspension.
Phillips ultimately resigned, calling the process a “performative ambush designed as a hearing.”
In his resignation letter, Phillips wrote: “I argued for equal treatment. The eagerness to twist my words shows a lack of honesty and critical thought. Denying opportunities based on skin color is discrimination by definition.”
He says he was punished, not for misconduct, but for opposing the discriminatory behavior.
“My only crime was advocating for equality for everyone, regardless of skin color. I raised a valid concern, discussed the definition of discrimination and held a mirror up to what they were doing. In their eyes, anti-white discrimination is okay, but challenging that precedent isn’t,” Phillips told Campus Reform.
“What I really want is for people to bring common sense back and stop pretending that people of color are oppressed in this country. I want people to realize that we are meant to celebrate what we have in common instead of dividing and fighting over our differences,” Phillips said.
Campus Reform has contacted Kent State University and the Vocal Intensity A Cappella group for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
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True.
My thoughts exactly.
What would happen if a black musician were excluded from a white barbershop quartet or a country-western band on the grounds of cultural appropriation?
What are the songs Whites are forbidden to sing?
LOL. That was the funniest movie ever made, and sadly it could not be done in today's environment.
I’m too lazy to look up better sources but the AI summary seems to capture it:
A cappella refers to music performed by a singer or a group without instrumental accompaniment, using only the human voice to create melodies, harmonies, and rhythms.
The term originates from Italian, meaning “in the style of the chapel,” and was initially used to describe sacred choral music performed in a chapel or small worship space without instruments.
It has since evolved to encompass both religious and secular music.
The style began to develop in Europe around the 9th century with the practice of organum and reached its peak between the 14th and 16th centuries, particularly through composers of the Franco-Flemish school such as Guillaume Du Fay, Johannes Ockeghem, and Josquin des Prez.
The music of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, especially his works for the Sistine Chapel, is considered a hallmark of a cappella polyphony in the late 16th century.
Although early a cappella polyphonies were sometimes doubled by instruments like organs or wind instruments, the term now generally denotes unaccompanied vocal performance.
A cappella music includes various forms such as Gregorian chanting, madrigals, barbershop music, collegiate a cappella, and puirt à beul.
It has a long tradition in religious contexts, including the Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Lutheran, and Eastern Catholic Churches, where liturgical music is exclusively sung without instruments.
In some Protestant traditions, such as certain Holiness Churches, a cappella worship was maintained until the mid-20th century.
It's a liberal college, so...
Mammy
Camptown Races
Pickaninny Heaven
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen
You get the picture.
There is cultural appropriation going on they just haven’t figured out the nature of it.
Dixie is on the no sing list. Mybe Rocky Top too.
Dixie is on the no sing list. Mybe Rocky Top too.
Especially Rocky Top!
Is it any white guys singing ending flourishes like this Keye and Peele sketch?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EtalOOS-eM
I mean *nobody* should sing Rocky Top.
A just machine to make big decisions
Programmed by fellows with compassion and vision
We’ll be clean when their work is done
We’ll be eternally free yes and eternally young
So is musical notation; that was invented by Europeans.
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