After watching an a capella show on campus, business freshman Santiago Rosales and a group of friends came up with UT-themed lyrics to the tune of Christmas carols and wrote them on napkins. What started as a string of jokes developed into the JC-Elves, a Christmas caroling group. 

Next week, the JC-Elves, who named themselves after a play on words with JCL, will outfit themselves in ugly Christmas sweaters and go caroling on campus. Rosales said the initial group of four has grown to seventeen carolers.

“We’re not good at singing, but we really love Christmas carols,” Rosales said. 

Rosales said the time of the day the Elves carol will depend on the schedules of each group member, though, they plan to sing for about an hour each day of the upcoming week. 

“I feel like there’s always been groups that carol,” said government freshman Patrick Golden, a founding member of JC-Elves. “But I don’t think they’ve made parodies of songs that make carols relatable to people that don’t celebrate Christmas.” 

According to Rosales, the only requirement to be in the JC-Elves is to wear a sweater and sing carols. 

Business freshman Andrew Cordova said that since he is not much of a singer, he will be in charge of taking group pictures and videos.

“I want to document people’s reactions to the lyrics because they’re pretty clever,” Cordova said.

Among the carols on the Elves’ seven-song set list are songs such as “Here Comes Charlie Strong” to the tune of “Here Comes Santa Claus” and a Bevo-themed “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Golden said his favorite song is “JCL Sucks” to the tune of “Jingle Bells,” inspired by the food offered at JCL.

Rosales said he plans on continuing the JC-Elves throughout his four years at UT.

“I would love for it to become a tradition, but, right now, we’re just focusing on it going well this year,” Rosales said.

The JC-Elves have already established that they will carol around Jester, Kinsolving and the SAC, and Rosales said they are also considering caroling outside of the PCL and the Tower.

“We’re all really big fans of UT sports teams and the school in general,” Rosales said. “We do this because we really love the school. Helping spread a little joy during a really tough time in the year would be very good, not only for other students, but also for ourselves.”