CASA - The Contemporary A Capella Society

When the Saxatones and the other five a cappella singing groups hold their annual rush at Georgetown University, hundreds of underclassmen race to sing for each ensemble. The audition process is so extensive that it might remind some students of getting into college in the first place: Paperwork and surveys. Ever-narrowing lists of callbacks. Passionate persuasion. Offers and rejections. Initiation ceremonies featuring singing, traditional rites and, most of the time, drinking.

For decades, a cappella was a tradition that thrived mainly at Ivy League institutions and small liberal arts schools. But a cappella is enjoying an explosion on all manner of campuses, with new groups popping up every year, burgeoning national a cappella competitions and, for the first time in about half a century, a high profile in the popular culture.

Ben Folds recorded a CD with a group of college a cappella ensembles. NBC hosted "The Sing-Off," a nationwide a cappella contest. Fans of "The Office" know that the character Andy Bernard is obsessed with his a cappella alma mater, Cornell's Here Comes Treble. Oh, and remember that episode of CBS's "How I Met Your Mother" when a group of former singers at Yale reunited at a rooftop Halloween party? (About 7 percent of Yale undergraduates sing in one of the school's 15 a cappella groups; there's even a Singing Group Council to govern the scene.)

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