The Friars

Our fifth and final senior spotlight of the 2025-2026 Friars is me, Leo Parikshak! There are far too many memories to include in this carousel, but I tried to pick some of the best highlights. I joined the Friars during my senior year of undergrad and decided to stay for 2 more years of grad school to earn a Master’s in Social Work, which was the best decision I’ve ever made. I sang tenor for the first 2 years and then switched to baritone and bass during my final year (and even beatboxed once or twice), and I have loved getting to be the unofficial social media manager of this incredible group. In terms of what’s next for me, I am moving to Highland Park, New Jersey as a mental health therapist to begin training for my clinical license. I cannot wait to see what the Friars get up to this year, and I’m so excited to rejoin them on the Rackham stage as an alumnus for the first time!!

Our fourth senior spotlight of the week is Rayan Sawan! Rayan joined the Friars as a sophomore and treated us to his lovely bass vocals and vocal percussion skills for two years while earning a degree in Political Science with a minor in Middle Eastern Studies. Since graduating, he’s been back in his home state of Oklahoma working on federal campaigns and preparing to apply for law school. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors!!

Our third senior spotlight is Jonah Schloerb!! Jonah, who joined the Friars as a junior, was a tenor and occasional rapper for 2 years before graduating with a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. He recently moved to Boulder, Colorado and is currently working as a Financial Analyst at Torch Clean Energy. We are so thankful for everything Jonah contributed to the group and wish him all the best!

Our second senior spotlight of the week is our former Music Director, Connor Casey!! Connor, who joined as a sophomore and spent 2 years evenly dispersed among every voice part in the Friars, is leaving his hometown of Ann Arbor for the mountains of Boulder, Colorado! He is following up his Bachelor’s with a Master’s in Environmental Studies at CU Boulder and is also in the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research. We wish our very own Nature Boy all the best as he continues his studies!

The 26-27 school year is rapidly approaching, which means that I will officially no longer be the social media guy for The Friars any longer, so with my limited time I will be highlighting our 5 departed Friars with a post every day this week!!

First up is our wonderful tenor and vocal percussionist, Michael! Michael joined the group as a sophomore and was a member for 3 years while he pursued a degree in Electrical Engineering. He is now working at Ford as a manufacturing FCG in Dearborn, MI! We wish him all the best as an alum and are so grateful for everything he brought to the Friars!!

The Friars 🍻 are coming to Stevensville, MI‼️ Tomorrow at 3 PM, we are visiting Elliot’s hometown 🤩 and will be performing at Christ Lutheran Church and School ⛪️ in Stevensville! Admission is 🚨FREE🚨 and we hope to see you 🫵 there!!