The Colgate Resolutions, fondly known around Colgate University’s campus as the “Resos,” is Colgate’s first gender-inclusive a cappella group. Every year, the week before returning to campus for the spring semester, they embark on a week-long tour across several cities in the Northeast, dubbed “Jantour.”

On tour, they held seven concerts in seven days, performing songs ranging from “Creep” by Radiohead to “Zombie” by the Cranberries. 

Sophomore Gavin Coull shared that while it is fundamentally a creative experience, some of the best parts of Jantour are the social aspects.

“Beyond singing and sharing our music, though, it’s practically a week of living with your closest friends,” Coull said. “At nearly all of our stops, someone from the group offers to host everybody, and every night, we hang out, playing games and laughing into the morning hours.”

Coull’s family opted to host the Resos for their time in Boston, as Coull’s family lives just 20 minutes outside the city. 

“It’s a tight squeeze like it is at every stop, but we always make it work, sleeping on couches and air mattresses,” Coull said. “Jantour truly is an extraordinary thing that not many students here get to experience, and I most definitely don’t take it for granted.”

Senior Corrigan Peters, the Resolution’s music director, has been a member of the Resos since his first year at Colgate. Peters emphasized he feels it’s been one of his best experiences on campus and that touring with the group has provided him with some of his most memorable experiences at Colgate.

“After four Jantours with the Resos, I can confidently say that it has been one of the coolest experiences I’ve had at Colgate, and it’s one more reason why I’m so glad I ended up joining the group,” Peters said.

Junior Jordan Quimby, who also joined the Resos in the fall of his first year, gave further insight into life on tour.

“During our tour, we take two vans. Every day is a different performance and a different setlist, so we are expected to know around 50 songs, and a setlist of around 10-12 of those songs drops the day that we sing them,” Quimby said. “We don’t have too much time to practice our setlist of songs that we have that day, so, on the road, we review music and sing together in the vans to practice before we get ready for soundcheck and perform.”

Similarly, Peters said that while being on tour is stressful, they spend enough time enjoying the experience as a team to make up for it.

“We make sure to spend time resting in between rehearsing and performing, because it makes it a lot more difficult when people are exhausted,” Peters said. “It helps to have a lot of leadership structure within the group so that things don’t get too crazy.”

Building on this sentiment, Coull mentioned that Jantour remains the best part of his winter break. All the members are excited to see one another and the group dynamics reflect this. He emphasized that the community and leadership of the organization are vital to the tour and the group’s success.

“The feeling of coming back for Jantour, when it’s just us on campus, getting hyped to perform every day, is something I wish everyone could experience,” Coull said. “The week maintains a perfect balance of rehearsing, performing and socializing, allowing us to sound amazing and still have fun.”

Coull recognized that the Resos’ leadership team was vital to the success of their tour over winter break. 

“I have to shout out our music director and president this year, [Peters] and Billie Scholz, as they put so much time and effort into planning the week and making sure it went as smoothly as possible. Without their organization, Jantour would never happen,” Coull said. 

Peters noted his favorite part of their tour was the Resos’ annual performance at a piano bar in New York City. 

“Many Reso alumni come see us perform, and we spend hours meeting them and catching up on the sidewalk outside afterwards, which is always very memorable,” Peters said. “The new members — usually [first-years] — of the group usually get to solo for the first time over tour, which is also really exciting.”

Quimby echoed the importance of alumni engagement.

“We invite our alumni up on stage and all put our arms around each other to sing our tradition song, ‘Home Again’ by Carole King,” Quimby said. “This song is very special to the Resos, as it is the first song you learn in the group and the last song you sing when you leave the group.” 

Coull, who has the most remaining time on the Resos relative to Quimby and Peters, reiterated that the New York City performance was his most memorable tour experience because of the alumni engagement and connections. The performance takes place each year at the same venue, Don’t Tell Mama, and because of the rich alumni presence in the city, many make the trip to come support. After a performance during Coull’s first year, current members and alumni gathered for a celebration in the city. 

“That night was the first moment I fully started to understand just how connected and meaningful the Resolutions are,” Coull said. “I mean, I’m only a sophomore, and I’ve already formed relationships that will last a lifetime. I can’t wait to see what the future, especially the next two Jantours, has in store for the group and me.” 

As the group looks ahead to future tours, Jantour remains a defining part of the Resos experience — one that blends performance, community and tradition.