Mission Statement

The C.O.W. Belles are a student-run a cappella group that serves as a creative, expressive musical organization. Our main goal is to spread musical joy to the campus and surrounding community as entertainment. In addition, we use our voices as a way to create the best music we know how by coming together to enjoy one another and ourselves.

A Sweet-Smelling History

The "history" of the C.O.W. Belles can barely be called that at all, really. We are young, fresh, and without much of a history at all. In 2001, three women at the College of Wooster - Amy Poston '03, Kay Ritchey '04 and Sarah Shafer '04 - decided to start a female a cappella group. Each girl had separately been batting the idea around for some time, but didn't realize they all had this interest until Amy walked up and boldly asked the brand-new men's a cappella group, the Merry Kuween of Skots, if she could either join them or get a list of other girls who wanted to sing a cappella.

After meeting together once, they decided to hold an information session for any women students who were interested, announcing their plans all over campus in October of 2001. Exactly twelve girls attended that first meeting, and the as-yet-unnamed group formed from the eight who decided that they had the dedication and long term interest in singing a cappella.

The group decided to meet again, forming meeting times, hammering out a repertoire, and getting to know one another. After a long discussion about names and joking around about the College of Wooster's acronymn (C.O.W.) and the silliness of Beall Ave. being pronounced "bell," the C.O.W. Belles were born.

Currently, we are the first and only all-female a cappella group at the College of Wooster, serving the campus community at least twice a year by holding co-sponsored concerts with our "brother" (ahem) a cappella group, the Merry Kuween of Skots.

We are also listed as members of Collegiate A Cappella Group Directory