CHICAGO — The phones are jingling off the hook at Dial-a-Carol, a student-run project on the University of Illinois’ Champaign campus. It’s a hotline of sorts for people who prefer hearing holiday music sung by a choir of amateurs who’ve been up all night studying.

The carols echoing in the lobby of Snyder Hall may be out of tune at times, but the voices ring around the clock with youthful energy.

“They’re there 24 hours, whether it’s 3 a.m. or 3 a.m. where you are,” said Kirsten Ruby, spokeswoman for the university’s housing department. “It doesn’t have to be business hours here.”

Students received 3,450 total calls total through Tuesday afternoon, coming in from all 50 states and 17 countries, Ruby said. The program was started in 1960 by a former hall secretary, Betty Gordon, and a group of dorm residents. Last year, the student volunteers took more than 4,000 calls from people all over the world requesting “Jingle Bells,” “White Christmas” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

“They’re not music majors. They’re singing from their hearts,” Ruby said.

Phone lines are open until just before midnight Wednesday. The number is 217-332-1882. When lines are busy, a recorded message greets callers with “Our first available caroler will be right with you.”

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Dial-a-Carol isn’t raising money — and that’s part of its charm. It coincides with final exams, giving students needed stress relief between tests.

“It’s something fun to do when there’s nothing other than studying to do,” said 19-year-old Christian Dillon, a freshman architecture student from Chicago. He took carol requests for eight hours overnight Friday and was back Monday for more.

“You’re sleepy, just all laughing and drinking coffee to keep each other awake,” he said.

There are even Dial-a-Carol miracles.

Renee Nelson, 51, of the Chicago suburb of Naperville, heard about it on the radio and decided to call.

“My niece Erin (Markovich) is a junior there. I called and she answered, but I did not know she would be there,” she said. Nelson requested “Jingle Bells.”

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“She got a couple of her friends to back her up…. You have to smile,” Nelson said. “It’s a bunch of college kids who could be doing anything else in their day. It was really cute.”

Garrick Bradley said he answered a Dial-a-Carol phone at 7 a.m. Monday, groggy from studying. The peppy voice on the line was a radio host in Phoenix asking him to sing “Feliz Navidad” on the air.

Other students came to his rescue: “I’m on a radio station live,” he said. “I needed some help.”

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” is so popular the students keep track with a “Mariah Meter.” The count Monday morning: 107 requests.

“I sing in the shower like everyone else,” said 19-year-old Kelly Sarna. “I’ve never been a part of a choir. It’s more about the tradition. … When I have kids, I’m going to look back at this and tell them I did Dial-a-Carol.”


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