Students perform in ‘Thanks-a-Latte’ Open Mic Night

By: Kevin Thomas ~Staff Writer~

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Photo courtesy of Xavier SAC | Ian Hunt and Michael Hunter, members of the Hunt for Hunter band, performed during the open mic night on Nov. 30 hosted by Student Activities Council (SAC).

Students expressed themselves in front of their peers in a variety of ways at the open mic event hosted by the Student Activity Council  (SAC) last Wednesday night. The event was named “Thanks-a-Latte” and featured a folk-rock duo from Brooklyn, N.Y., called Hunt for Hunter. It was the first open mic of its kind to happen on campus.

A stage was set up in the atrium of Gallagher Student Center (GSC) for the open mic, which ran from 8 – 10 p.m., and around a dozen different individuals made their way to the stage to perform music, sing, read poetry or present pieces of spoken word.

“Personally, I enjoyed being able to see my fellow students perform either their own creations or covers of other people’s creations or even share their own poetry,” first-year Kelsey Kraft said. “I thought that was interesting.”

Sophomore Eva Weber, who performed a song with her ukulele, enjoyed the experience and hopes for more opportunities like it.

“It was very fun,” Weber said. “I think relaxed expression of yourself is important. There’s not a lot of opportunities for people who aren’t professionals or more or less professionals to perform, so I think it was nice that they did that.”

The two members of Hunt for Hunter, Ian Hunt and Michael Hunter, performed alongside Xavier students and thought that the event was a success as well.

“It was the best first open mic that I’ve ever seen. It’s great to get people out, especially students, on a Wednesday night,” Hunter said.

Hunter, the other half of the band, thought that open mics are incredibly important events to have for students.

“[An open mic] is how I started, playing the open mic in my dorm’s basement. When I started, I was terrible. An open mic gives people a place to try out stuff and find out what they’re good at. If I hadn’t had those open mics at my college, I don’t think I would have become a professional musician,” Hunter said.

While not intended to propel any single person into becoming a professional, the open mic event was a way for students to relax and wind down before the upcoming exams.

“So what we wanted to do for our open mic event was kind of give a fun study break for students where they can come out and share their talents, have a good time, have some good snacks, and just have fun,” said sophomore Becky Hagedorn, a SAC member who supervised the event.