The Blend is Wheaton College’s first and (so far) only coed a capella group.  Founded in fall of 2002, the idea of The Blend was conceived on one crazy night when Wheaton students Samuel Appleton (’06) and Megan Diaz (’04) decided that, well, more fun than being in a single-sex acapella group would be starting a group that includes both men and women.

           With three well-established acapella groups already existing on campus, the idea of starting another one (that would be taken seriously, at least) seemed far-fetched at first, but with the support of Robin Doss (’06) and more ambition than any single-sex acapella group could shake a stick at, The Blend was born. 

            Things were a little bit bumpy during the first year that The Blend existed, as no one in the group had an insanely in-depth history with a capella music.  Also facing The Blend was the problem of intimidation.  As was said before, prior to The Blend, the only a capella groups at Wheaton were well-established and very good.  Naturally, then, The Blend had a lot to live up to, and for a brand new a capella group on a campus where the tradition is held in extremely high regard, the challenge was a big one.  Morale was boosted in the group after the first official Jam, however, as the group was surrounded by fellow students offering a great amount of support and encouragement, despite the fact that the songs were shaky and in dire need of improvement.

            Three years later, The Blend has earned the respect of their peers, become known for their humor and interesting advertising methods (or “shenanigans” as one person put it), and, during the past two audition sessions, had more students try out than any of the other a capella groups on campus.  With a handful of extremely successful Jams and a tight knit group of support in their pockets, members of The Blend can now proudly say, “We’ve done it.”  Now they’ve just got to figure out how to use those damn CD recording devices…