Senior Benjamin Goldhaber of the Pikers described the evening in one sentence as his a cappella group took the stage and opened the show: “We’re anti-hurricane.”

Project SOS (Students of the South) and the a cappella community at Washington University hosted a benefit concert to raise funds for the Gulf Coast’s continuing recovery from Hurricane Katrina’s devastation in Aug., 2005.

The concert, known as Rhythms for Rebuilding, came to Graham Chapel from 7:30-9 p.m. yesterday, featuring all nine a cappella groups of the A Cappella Auditions Council performing together for the first time in Washington University’s history.

The a cappella groups were After Dark, the Amateurs, the Aristocats, the Mosaic Whispers, the Greenleafs, the Pikers, Staam, the Stereotypes and More Fools Than Wise.

All proceeds raised from ticket sales will be donated to Common Ground Collective, a grassroots relief program and social activism organization formed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

With more than a year having passed since Katrina and the decline in media coverage, senior Maurine Wall, president of Project SOS, was initially concerned about the concert’s turnout. However, by concert time, a line had formed outside the Graham Chapel and the building was nearly filled to capacity. By the time of the concert, Project SOS had sold about $2400 in tickets.

“I was really excited about the turnout,” she said. “In the thirty minutes before the actual concert I was really nervous, but it turned out wonderfully.”

By the end of the concert, Rhythms for Rebuilding had raised about $3,084, making it the most successful benefit concert in the University’s history, according to junior Chandan Khandai, a member of the Amateurs and primary coordinator of the event.

“It was a great experience,” said senior Jazzy Danziger, a singer for After Dark, after the concert. “It was a great crowd tonight, and it was a good cause and it raised a lot of money, so I’m excited about it.”

Khandai said the idea for the concert originated because of what he referred to as two holes that needed to be filled. The first hole was the prior lack of any opportunity for students to see all of the University’s a cappella groups in one concert. The second hole was the still needy status of the Gulf Coast as it continues to recover. Khandai noted that despite the relative decline in Katrina-related news and publicity, there is still great need in the region.

Khandai said that he and members of Project SOS felt that “it’d be great to unite two great causes – that of rebuilding and that of uniting the a cappella community.”

Financing for the concert came from Project SOS as well as the Student Union and the Office of Community Service. Student Union funded the remaining expenses.

“That just speaks volumes about Wash. U., that we have a student body that’s really dedicated to the ideas of community service and social justice, and that we can put on something like this,” said Khandai.

Rhythms for Rebuilding is the second major effort project SOS has undertaken in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Last year the group raised $2,000 by hosting a bowl-a-thon to benefit a grassroots school fund in southern Louisiana.

In addition to selling tickets, Project SOS also sold baked goods during the concert’s intermission. Mosaic Whispers will also be selling its CDs after the concert.

Several other campus organizations sent representatives to speak at the concert about other community service opportunities for students. These organizations included the Campus Y, Habitat for Humanity, Jewish Student Union, Inter-Fraternity Council, The Women’s Panhellenic Association, Engineers Without Borders, Congress of the South 40, the Student Union and the Office of Community Service.

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