Monday, October 15, 2007

Shouting Pride at UMD

It's a bit scary to realize, but we are actually half way through the semester at this point. Hopefully you are surviving mid-terms and papers and maybe even your parents visiting this past weekend.

I went to a ton of events and all seemed to be vibrant, but I wanted to point out one event that was particularly powerful. On Friday night, I went to TerPoets/Pride Alliance's event featuring Andrea Gibson. I am always impressed by spoken-word poets. I envy their ability to communicate their thoughts and feelings in words the way that they do. But this particular poet's ability to convey powerful political and personal messages was particularly moving. But Gibson proved on Friday to be more than just a poet; she was an ultimate performer. She carried the crowd through ups and downs, joking about the seeming negativity of her various poems. She was funny, charming, and powerful. If you haven't had the opportunity to watch a poet perform, I strongly encourage you to do so. I have been so impressed with TerPoets ability to bring talented acts to campus and in the talent that we have right here in our student body. TerPoets holds open mics every Tuesday at 6 pm in Dorchester Hall basement and this week's performer is supposed to be a great talent.

Beyond the performance, Andrea Gibson's performance came on the heels of the Pride Alliance's successful rally the day before. Unfortunately, I was out of town that afternoon and unable to make it, but I am proud to have signed the SGA's resolution and have offered my full support in fighting for full benefits for University faculty and staff. I hope that their activism will lead to this University adopting an equitable policy and for other state institutions to follow.

These student groups are two examples of some of the amazing work students are doing through our 550 student organizations on campus. If you aren't already, join some of them. If there isn't the one that you want, create it. If you have any questions about involvement in student organizations, contact Ruth Igielnik at ruth.igielnik@gmail.com. Have a great Homecoming Week!

Best,
Andrew

3 Comments:

At October 18, 2007 at 6:51 AM , Blogger Kio said...

Correction: The open mic is at 8 pm. :P Thanks for the shout out!

~Jenna Brager

 
At October 18, 2007 at 8:39 AM , Blogger Justin Fair said...

This is terrific! It's absolutely fantastic to see inspiration at work!

 
At October 22, 2007 at 8:21 PM , Blogger Andrew Friedson said...

My fault with the time!

AMF

 

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