Freshman Serenades Random Students With Love Songs in Lecture Halls
Canadian college students have a new reason to stay awake during lectures: A random serenade and a rose may be coming their way.
Kyle Forgeard, 19, a freshman film student at the University of Waterloo, has been entering lecture halls on campuses throughout Ontario recently, surprising students and professors alike, midway through class. Dressed in formal wear singing love songs like “Let Me Love You,” by Mario, and John Mayer’s classic “Your Body Is a Wonderland,” he sets his sights on a female professor or student sitting in the front row and presents the target with a white rose. Forgeard exits the classroom just as abruptly as he came — leaving jaws dropped and loud laughs in his wake. He then uploads a video of the whole thing to YouTube.
More on Yahoo Shine: Woman's Get-Engaged Secret: Try On a Wedding Dress
Together with his 24-year-old friend Nick Martinovic on the guitar, and Martinovic's twin brother, Mark, as cameraman, the trio, who met at their day job at a golf course, started their series of stunts by crooning to pedestrians from their car, but wanted to up the ante. “I thought that's so gutsy to sing in front of a large audience,” Forgeard tells Yahoo Shine.
More on Yahoo: The Most Educated Countries in the World
Forgeard says he hopes his music “released the tension from the lectures.” Surprisingly, even the teachers are enjoying his performances. “Professors liked it too. We haven't gotten one professor to ask us to leave.” But Amy Mullin, vice-principal, academic, and dean at the University of Toronto Mississauga, tells Yahoo Shine, "Many female faculty members would be far from pleased to have a random young man sing lyrics such as “Your Body Is a Wonderland,” to them in front of a class they are teaching in virtue of their academic expertise.”
Students bearing witness to the displays agree. Ava H commented on YouTube about the video, which has been viewed almost 84,000 times since it was posted on to the site on Oct. 2, "omg I watched this yesterday and today they broke into our AST class @ con hall. it was a huge class (approx. 1000+ ppl) we enjoyed it, nice job!" DashDashIronA, also a lucky student in one of the chosen classes, wrote, “LOL That first class was my Eco220 class, I skipped that day cause we had a midterm the next day, but damn wish I coulda been there...”
While many students certainly seem to be liking the interruptions, Mullins doesn't believe all of them are. “It could easily be the case that female students or faculty members singled out might not enjoy the experience, and may not want to have attention called to them in the context of a romantic love song. Some might even feel mocked or sexualized in a situation and location in which they are expected to learn,” she says.
Not deterred by the backlash and instead fueled by the attention, the trio have taken their show on the road, so to speak. Since pulling off their first performance, they've busted into classes at the University of Guelph and the University of Toronto Mississauga, and still have another serenade planned for this Thursday. For students in Ontario: Don't forget to grab a front-row seat this week … you never know where Forgeard and his crew will show up next.
More on Yahoo Shine:
Children's Hospital's 'Brave' Music Video Goes Viral
The Most Awesome Homecoming King and Queen Ever
A Zombie Marriage Proposal: The Best or Worst Idea Ever?
