2008 Woodie Awards
Slam!
Scott to Host Most Recent in a History of Hendrix Poetry Competitions
Zora McBride
Issue date: 9/29/06 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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By Zora McBride
Student Reporter
McBrideJI@hendrix.edu
On October 7, 2006, Hendrix will conduct a poetry slam to be hosted by Clayton Scott, educator extraordinaire and renowned national performer. Director of Student Activities Dave Wagner has been working the past few years to cultivate a student interest in Slam Poetry by hosting Slams on campus as well as taking students to Slam competitions.
"I rented a movie, and there was a preview for a film called Slam, written and directed by Saul Williams," Wagner said. "I thought, 'Wow, this looks pretty cool.' After seeing it, I found myself wondering just how popular this thing was, whether there were a lot of people participating in it."
At around the same time, Wagner received a call from the Association of College Unions International, asking him if he would like to take a leadership position.
"When I asked what was available, they told me about campus Events and Program Management. It's a new position that's only been around for about a year, and mostly, it does poetry slams."
If this were not enough of a push for Hendrix to get involved in the Slam community, Wagner was approached by Jonathan Self '06, who explained his interest in the matter, and asked what the college might have to offer. The rest, as they say, is history.
Since then, Hendrix has competed in the regional Slam three years running. Wagner is now the coordinator of the national competition after directing regionals for two years.
When asked how successful he thought the program to be, Wagner said, "I think it's been very successful. When we first started, we'd be lucky to get 35 to 40 people to show up for an event. The first regional team we had, there were only five people on stage. So, all five were going, we just had to determine who would be the alternate.
"At our most recent event, eight people got on stage, I think all of whom were excellent, and we had about 100 spectators. It really felt like a competition. Even some faculty members showed up. That's great for a spoken word event on a Friday night."
Student Reporter
McBrideJI@hendrix.edu
On October 7, 2006, Hendrix will conduct a poetry slam to be hosted by Clayton Scott, educator extraordinaire and renowned national performer. Director of Student Activities Dave Wagner has been working the past few years to cultivate a student interest in Slam Poetry by hosting Slams on campus as well as taking students to Slam competitions.
"I rented a movie, and there was a preview for a film called Slam, written and directed by Saul Williams," Wagner said. "I thought, 'Wow, this looks pretty cool.' After seeing it, I found myself wondering just how popular this thing was, whether there were a lot of people participating in it."
At around the same time, Wagner received a call from the Association of College Unions International, asking him if he would like to take a leadership position.
"When I asked what was available, they told me about campus Events and Program Management. It's a new position that's only been around for about a year, and mostly, it does poetry slams."
If this were not enough of a push for Hendrix to get involved in the Slam community, Wagner was approached by Jonathan Self '06, who explained his interest in the matter, and asked what the college might have to offer. The rest, as they say, is history.
Since then, Hendrix has competed in the regional Slam three years running. Wagner is now the coordinator of the national competition after directing regionals for two years.
When asked how successful he thought the program to be, Wagner said, "I think it's been very successful. When we first started, we'd be lucky to get 35 to 40 people to show up for an event. The first regional team we had, there were only five people on stage. So, all five were going, we just had to determine who would be the alternate.
"At our most recent event, eight people got on stage, I think all of whom were excellent, and we had about 100 spectators. It really felt like a competition. Even some faculty members showed up. That's great for a spoken word event on a Friday night."
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