On Thur., Dec. 4, WPAW radio station hosted their annual Open Mic Night at Briarcliff’s Pace Perk Café.

Open Mic, which has been the organization’s signature event every semester for over 6 years, now has become quite cherished by those who attend in hopes of performing, enjoying the show, or just relaxing with friends during the hectic final exam season.

“My suitemate and I went this first time just to check it out,” said sophomore computer science major Kaleigh Kessler. “We knew a few people that were going to be there, and I try to take advantage of the events that happen on Briarcliff. I ended up enjoying it a lot and staying longer than I anticipated. I definitely want to go my remaining years at Pace.”

An estimated 100 people were in attendance at this event, which featured catering by Lucio’s pizzeria of Pleasantville, as well as a mocktail station that served various non-alcoholic cocktail drinks.

The night also featured 20 performances from both students and faculty, including Director of Multicultural Affairs Cornell Craig, who performed two spoken word poems spanning several topics that were suggested by guests throughout the night.

“This is about my third or fourth year [performing] with WPAW. I missed some semesters, but I’ve done it every year,” Craig said. “I’ve been seriously writing poetry since my junior or senior year of college. I’d write poetry assignments and they’d come pretty easy, but I never took it seriously until my junior or senior year.”

For some, like WPAW vice president Ashley Lora, Open Mic represents a wonderful platform for the Pace community to get together and enjoy each other’s talents.

“We take pride in this Open Mic Night because it’s one of the best on campus,” Lora said. “We invite performers from within and out of the Pace community to share something they love doing.

“I love when people decide to be brave and take a shot in the dark because that’s what this org represents,” Lora continued. “That says a lot to me, and, like I tell my eBoard, this event is a true test of how well we work together and support each other. I’m just glad everyone had a blast.”

Despite being a success, with back-to-back performances that ran from 9 p.m. to midnight, this semester’s Open Mic also signifies a bittersweet goodbye for a student that has led WPAW in various ways for some time now, senior president John Robb.

“I’ve been a member of WPAW since my second week of freshman year, so three and a half years, and I started to DJ shortly after I joined,” Robb said.

“I loved the event, it went very well,” Robb said. “It was a great way to end my semester as president of WPAW, and it reminded me of how proud I am of our organization and our members.”