Students are invited to take a break from the stress of the final weeks of classes Wednesday and relax with complimentary food, entertainment and a glass of wine, all conveniently provided on campus.
Appalachian Popular Programming Society is hosting the Spring Wine-Down in the Whitewater Café from 7-9 p.m. to provide students with a night of relaxation before finals.
“It’s just a really cultural thing where people can discuss poetry and sip some wine,” said Rachael McKinney, junior history major and APPS Club Shows chairperson.
She and other APPS executives discovered the special featured guest, spoken word and performance artist The Rising Phoenix, at a convention for the National Association for Campus Activities and decided to bring her to campus.
“She has such powerful poetry, it’s really moving,” McKinney said. “It’s fun to have an event where you can hear something inspirational like this and then do something yourself.”
Following the poetry, the floor is open to anyone who wishes to share their own poetic or musical talents.
“It’s fun to have an event where you can hear something inspirational like this,” said Karissa Goff, a sophomore psychology major and organizer for the event.
Approximately 40 people showed up for an interest meeting about performing at open mic, Goff said.
She hopes that the event, by focusing on something other than music as most APPS events do, will draw in participants who might not otherwise have had the opportunity to perform on campus.
“We like the idea of poetry and spoken word because it can be done by everyone,” Goff said. “Doing a spoken word event gives the students more of a chance to get involved rather than just sitting and watching a band.”
After positive response from the Winter Wine Down, organizers are hoping that this semester’s event will top the 150 participants who came to the event last semester.
Goff said some of the success comes from the novelty of being able to drink alcohol on campus. Any student who wishes to have a glass of wine must be of legal age and show valid identification.
“This is one of those events that is kind of overlooked on campus, and I think it’s a really good opportunity for students to experience something different on campus and to get a feel for a little bit more of what APPS does,” Mckinney said.
Goff said students really need the opportunity for “hanging out one last time before everything gets crazy with the end of the semester,” and APPS is willing to use their budget to help provide that.
Story: LOVEY COOPER, Senior A&E Reporter