Inspirational Movement/ VOICE (Voices of Inspiration and Christian Enlightenment Inspirational Movement) choir began performing in 1972 when Michael Monroe, then a Carleton junior, formed the group.

The early 1970s saw an explosion of Carleton's minority student population. African American student enrollment
grew significantly and with this increase in numbers came a greater desire to establish organizations that would allow these students to express their cultural identities more completely.

SOUL (begun in 1967/68 as the Negro Affairs Committee
(NAC), renamed SOUL--Students Organized toward Unity and Liberation spring of 1968, and is now known as the Black Student Alliance) continued to thrive, while three other groups formed during this period: the Black Repertory Workshop Theater Troupe (now called the Black Dramatic Arts Group or BDAG), the dance Company Ebony II, and the Inspirational Movement (later known as VOICE), a gospel choir made up largely of Carleton students and some ABC (A Better Chance) Students. The decade also saw the first Black History Month program (which has since become a regular part of the Carleton College calendar), the first Black homecoming queen and the first Black CSA president.

LATINO organized in 1972 (now the Latin American Student Organization) was formed "to educate its members and the rest of the campus...[about] the Latino communities of the United States [and permit] Latinos to maintain their cultural identity in the midst of the Anglo majority here. While Asians had long been among the largest minority contingent at Carleton, it was only in 1971 that ASIA was formed for "building and unifying a viable Asian community, increasing...our interaction and enhancing our self-knowledge." Together with SOUL, LATINO and ASIA became political forces on campus.