The event, which is sponsored by the Black Student Alliance, will feature soloists from Trinity Washington University, George Washington University, University of Maryland and Howard University.

“I spoke with an administrator who’s been here for seven or eight years and she told me that no sole African-American organization has been in Gaston Hall in more than eight years, just by themselves putting on an event,” Entertainment Coordinator Zeplyn Tillman (COL ’14) said.

The BSA partnered with Trinity’s Campus Activities, GW’s Program Board, Howard’s Endustry Power Players and UMD’s Black Student Union.

The singers were chosen through an audition process; a panel featuring one member of each participating organization selected the competitors at each university, based on vocals and performance. Enushé Khan (MSB ’17) is a member of the Georgetown Phantoms and will represent Georgetown in the competition.

“Some of my fellow Phantoms had brought it up and said ‘Oh, we should audition,’ so a couple of us auditioned for fun,” Khan said.

The Phantoms will perform the national anthem to begin the event; Resonance Essence Live — a new a cappella group from Georgetown — will also perform.

The BSA hopes that the competition’s location — Gaston Hall — is demonstrative of the event’s importance to the university community.

“Honestly, it was one of those things where we wanted people to understand the magnitude of the event,” Tillman said. “This [Gaston Hall] is the most prestigious place on campus.”

The BSA sees the event as a way to unite the D.C. community through music.

“That’s kind of why we chose music. No matter your race, sexual orientation, gender, it’s like everyone flocks together to hear good music,” Tillman said.

This attempt to include as many different people in the community as possible is reflected by the diverse group of contestants.

“People would expect to see five African-Americans on stage and we have a very eclectic mix,” Tillman said.

UMD contestant Antonia Murray, a junior who goes by the stage name “Kora,” believes that this diversity makes the contestants more relatable.

“I think it’s going to add all the more height to it because somebody can relate to one of us,” Murray said.

The BSA decided to open the competition to single contestants rather than entire groups in an effort to make the event more unique.

“It was something that we hadn’t necessarily seen yet. You see a lot of a cappella festivals or group performances around campus, and you know I think those are great, we just wanted to do something different,” Tillman said.

The competitive aspect of the performance also makes the event stand out.

“I think that having a competition versus other schools would definitely help to rally Georgetown together rather than kind of pitting group by group,” Tillman said.

The competition will involve two elimination rounds after the contestants participate in group performances. The four judges include producer Chucky Thompson, Mrs. D.C. America Meagan Barnes, Huge Studio CEO Yudu Gray Jr. and recording artist Carolyn Malachi. The winner will receive $500 and a trophy, while the runner-up will receive $300.

Since individuals will compete on behalf of different schools, some contestants expressed concern that the audience might be inclined to cheer for school-specific contestants.

“I’m just nervous about not having a receptive crowd because they are rooting for the other contestants,” Khan said.

This fear resonated with Trinity’s Janaé Daniels, who doubted that her school would have a strong turnout.

“The downfall is that I do think that they may not cheer for me because I’m not from there,” Daniels said.

However, Murray was less bothered by the possibility of a narrow-minded audience.

“Of course, whichever contestant is from each school, that school is going to cheer for them more, that’s just normal,” Murray said.

The contestants look forward to the exposure that the event will provide.

“I’m really excited to perform in front of a large group of people. I think it’s always the first step to becoming comfortable performing on stage,” Daniels said.

Meanwhile, other contestants look forward to bonding with the audience.

“My main thing is not so much winning the competition, it’s more so that I want to connect to the people, impact the people, make them feel good and I just want to vibe off their energy and see where I’m coming from,” Murray said.

The event is also philanthropic: Money is being raised for the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Tickets are $10 for students; general admission tickets cost $12.