A holiday tradition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign dating back 65 years will continue through midnight Wednesday.
Student volunteers had sung Christmas carols more than seven thousand times for callers as of Tuesday morning.
Dial-a-Carol is a free service where people can call and request a holiday song 24 hours a day this week.
Residence Director Sarah McElwee says they’ve heard from people in Russia, Australia, the Czech Republic and all 50 states.
Fueled by snacks and maybe the stress of final exams, students and staff sing on command in the lobby of Snyder Residence Hall.
The university credits a clerk named Betty Gordon with starting the tradition in 1960 by having students play holiday records over the phone.
That eventually morphed into live singing.
You can make your request by calling 217.332.1882