Kent State’s Undergraduate Student Government welcomed students to read their own poetry at the Rhyme and Reason Poetry Slam Showcase on Monday.

This was the first time USG had hosted an event like this, and it was created with the intent to encourage students’ interest in poetry. 

The idea was brought up after Hannah Sietz, a sophomore majoring in peace and conflict studies and USG senator for the College of Arts and Sciences, hosted a different event, and students started requesting a night where they can all share their poetry.

“The only event I’ve held so far this semester is a meet your senator event,” Sietz said. “That’s how I came up with this event. I got feedback from students and they said they really want to do poetry slams because they all write poetry and they don’t really get to share it with anyone except their professors, but they want to share it with everyone else.”

Despite not being interested in writing poetry herself, Sietz stated she believes events like these can assist people in building connections with others around them. 

“It’s a great way to get to know people who have the same interests as you,” Sietz said. “Like you may not know that your next-door neighbor likes poetry.”

Sietz explained how important marketing is for USG and the events they hold. They have a director of marketing and communication that focuses on making flyers while everyone else focuses on promotion through social media. 

“We really just go through advertising, through social media on both our senator platforms or USG’s platform,” Sietz said. “Marketing is like our number one thing.”

Madeleine Frutos, a sophomore fashion design major, showed how important their advertising was when she revealed that the combination of social media and the flyers is how she personally discovered the event. 

Frutos also expressed her love for poetry and how it stems all the way back to high school.

“In a poem, every word is purposeful and no words in a poem can be changed without changing the entire meaning of it. That’s why I like poetry,” Frutos said. “In high school, I really hated being trapped there, so I ended up creating a Google doc with a bunch of phrases that came to my mind of what I was feeling.”

In high school, Frutos was involved in a group that would occasionally put on events like this one and still participates in similar events in downtown Kent.

“I ran a writing group in high school and we would put on open mic nights twice a year,” Frutos said. “Just a few months ago, I went to an open mic night at Last Exit.”

Sietz acknowledged that many people are passionate about poetry and hoped that this Poetry Slam Showcase would be a place for them to pursue that passion.

“I know that so many people are passionate about it, and I love listening to poetry,” Sietz said. “All I want to do is help people pursue their passions.”

Addison Young is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected]