Student Activities Board holds Open Mic Night

May 8 from 6 to 8 p.m., the Stu­dent Activities Board hosted the second Open Mic Night of the 2017–2018 year for UW Tacoma students at the Court 17 Patio. Over 50 stu­dents were in the attendance, and participants showcased their skills in poetry, music and comedy.

SAB organizes this event once every quarter for students to relax and have a good time. Open Mic Night is free of charge for all UWT students, so any student can attend or show off their skills in anything from poetry to music to dance.

The Open Mic Night began with the organizers welcoming all attend­ees with refreshments. Event host and resident assistant of Court 17, Sarah Hopkins, initiated the proceedings by welcoming attendees and reciting a self-written poem.

Angeline Jimenez, music and en­tertainment coordinator of the SAB, relayed her excitement on all of the work she has been able to do.

“This is my first year as the music and entertainment coordinator,” Jimenez said. “I pretty much try to hold events that are related to music. Anyone can come up to me and pres­ent their ideas, and I can cultivate them into different events.”

Jimenez is proud of the turnout that different Open Mic Nights have been able to attract for each event. She has experimented with the location by choosing a different place each quarter, intending to see how it affects the number of people that attend.

“We have had more and more people attending our Open Mic Nights,” Jimenez said. “[The most recent Open Min Night’s] turn out [was] around 50. I have had many students approaching me, asking about this event. So, I hope I have been able to deliver.”

Hopkins collaborated with SAB starting last quarter to help plan and set up this event in advance. She was content with the preparations for the event, and shed some light on why she feels Open Mic Nights are important.

“We just want to encourage ev­eryone to express themselves in what­ever way they feel comfortable with,” Hopkins said. “We want a space for the students and the community to be able to come together and social­ize with each other.”

Jimenez, along with the other or­ganizers, hopes that Open Mic Night will be expanded in future quarters.

“I would say that students are al­lowed to come and express them­selves however they want to in front of other students,” Jimenez said. “It’s a night where everyone is accepted for who they are, while they all have a good time.”