The smell of freshly brewed coffee drifted through the dimly lit room as students gathered to listen to their peers read their original work for the Open Mic Night hosted in the Fair Commons lobby.
The Open Mic Night, held on March 22, was planned by the apartments’ resident director Dillon Lockwood and the apartment RAs. Many different forms of art were shared at the mic, from poetry to rap and from music to stand-up comedy.
The idea for the event came about in the Bottom of Decker when Lockwood, a graduate student in the SOT, asked his friends for input about the next staff-planned event for apartment residents, or, in this case, all of campus. Someone suggested an open mic night, and after meetings to organize ideas, the event was placed on the schedule.
According to Lockwood, the planning team organized everything from decorations to marketing. They partnered with Jack Rabbit Coffee to provide drinks, and three out of four thermal dispensers were empty only an hour into the event.
Lockwood said that the event provided a “tangible way” for students to “be vulnerable together” while sharing original artwork with others in the community.
It was about students “getting up to get a little bit outside their comfort zone, but also to see from others’ perspectives and attempt to understand each other,” Lockwood said.
When all was said and done, Lockwood hoped that students would have been able to “create a little bit more understanding and view new perspectives.”
The open mic event, according to Lockwood, was a “safe environment for [speakers] to be received” without fear of prejudice or stereotyping. Additionally, he believes that speakers and attendees engaged together to inspire “empathy and camaraderie for the university.”
He hopes that the university will “continually create safe places” like open mic nights in order to achieve a greater sense of community.
The Open Mic Night began with senior English education major Nate Urban and his mini-guitar. He sang worship songs and encouraged the audience to participate.
Junior Angela Richie, a newcomer to performing comedy, had the crowd roaring with a stand-up routine about the “irrational fears” and paranoia she and her friends experience.
Later on, some student performers took the stage to talk about darker parts of life. Senior visual communication design major Kat Van Oss was one such student.
Van Oss read a poem titled “Dear Straight People” that was written by Denice Frohman. The poem, she said, is “basically the perspective of a lesbian woman calling out straight people” for the social inequity facing the LGBT community.
Of the poem, she said, “It’s funny, it’s light hearted, but it still talks about some of the stuff that really is prevalent.”
Jayelle St. Hilaire, a sophomore music education major and international student from Trinidad and Tobago, read a poem she wrote in high school titled “The World Needs More Love.”
She said that she read the poem “straight from the heart” and that she wanted the audience to learn to “be more intentional with sharing love with others” while remembering that “God is love.”
“I came from a third world country, and I’ve seen a lot of violence,” Hilaire said. “Having interacted with a lot of guns and a lot of gang violence, I have a perspective that all I see is violence throughout the world and no remnants of love.”
In order to achieve world peace, she said, “We should not be too afraid to talk about violence, and when we see it, we should do something about it.”
Another student, sophomore psychology major Josiah Sprinkle, shared art inspired by a rugged upbringing. He read a poem titled “Today Was a Good Day,” which he wrote in December of 2017. The poem’s name was inspired by a lyric in the Ice Cube song “It Was a Good Day.”
Sprinkle grew up visiting friends who lived in the projects. He remembered their struggles in everyday life, and how, despite their hardship, they were good companions to him. With that in mind, Sprinkle wanted to tell the audience to be content with what they have and to seek the best in other people.
Junior nursing major Lexiana Krause, an RA who helped plan the event, thought that the participants’ openness helped to make the event a success.
“The amount of support and encouragement in the room was overwhelming, and I feel that community was built in the two hours we had together,” she said.
Junior elementary education major Erin Carr, who also helped plan the event, agreed with Krause. “The Open Mic Night was a success because it created a space for students to share their hearts and passions and connect with others,” she said.