Eating dinner in Nellies never sounded so good; words were spoken from the back of the room as a professional poet graced the Jacksonville University student body with touching words about life.

The man brought to campus, introduced as Cuban, came to the stage Wednesday at 7 p.m. during the dinner hours on campus to do some spoken word for the audience.

Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated verse to express social commentary. Normally it is done from the poet’s point of view.

The person who brought Cuban and his friends here is Kelly Martens, senior and novelty coordinator for Dolphin Productions. She took a month to plan the event and get everything set up. She saw another spoken word poet at a conference for campus programming and went through Jus Wiggin Entertainment to find one for JU, which is where she found Cuban.

“I’ve come to intrude on your dinner,” said Cuban as he walked onto the stage. “If you start to not like it just throw things at me.”

His first performances were a few haikus, very short forms of Japanese poetry. These were much like ice breakers to get the audience comfortable with what was going to happen throughout the show.

Before many people truly warmed up to Cuban he compared the quiet audience to awkward sex. This made everyone start to laugh more. He wanted everyone to feel more at home. He told the audience to snap or clap and even fake it even if they did not like it.

By himself Cuban did three spoken word poems and then was joined by his partner Moses, who was welcomed by a loud applause, and together they recited another spoken word poem. This poem was similar to a duet because they played off each other’s words and said many words in sync to emphasize them to the audience.

“From the second he walked on campus, Cuban was great,” Martens said. “He greeted me unexpectedly with a big hug just like I was family. Their performance was incredible and I think Nellie’s was the perfect venue for the kind of event like spoken word. I hoped it showed everyone how versatile and inspiring poetry can be.”

After this performance Moses introduced Seven Soul Jones to the audience, and together they do another spoken word. This time Cuban took a seat to sit back and watch his friends.

“It was spectacular,” said junior Mandi LaFond. “It was a relief, and their words made you think.”

Cuban introduced the next performer who combined playing the guitar, singing and spoken word into a triple threat. Many of the females in the audience were taken aback by him because of his angelic voice.

“I thought it was great with a lot of creativity, very intelligent and a nice choice of vocabulary,” said junior Abril Peeples.

After his song, Seven Soul Jones came back, and with the help of the guitarist he starts to do the same thing. Soon, Moses joins in with him, and they get the audience clapping along the beat and eventually had the audience echoing the words, “I think I love you.”

To end the show Cuban, Moses and Seven Soul Jones did a spoken word together. Throughout the song they had the audience shout out, “I don’t need no mic.”

“Their performance was pretty unexpected because they were really creative and had great energy,” said junior Kelsie Celis. “When I think of a poet I don’t get hyped up, but they gave me chills throughout their performance.”

Photo by Brett Durda

The death of a family member can be tough for anyone in many situations, but turning that tragedy into an opportunity to speak and relate to young people is exactly what Erica Upshaw has decided to do with her life.

Students across the Jacksonville University campus had the opportunity to hear a unique presentation about alcohol and drug awareness in Terry Concert Hall at two times, 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., on March 12.

Upshaw’s past experiences have caused her to start her non-profit organization, Keep Friendship Alive, in 2006, according to keepfriendshipalive.org. She is the founder and executive director of the organization. She knew she had a unique opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of young people.

“A professional speaker is the last thing I thought I would do with my life,” Upshaw said.

According to the website, the mission of Keep Friendship Alive is to prevent senseless deaths by educating students on how to party smart, identify and approach a friend with a problem, and respond to an emergency situation.

After hearing Upshaw at Southeast Panhellenic Conference, senior Cera Lopez and junior Katherine Thomas talked to Kaiti Chambers, assistant director of campus activities and Student Commons, and worked to get her to speak to the student population at JU about safer methods of drinking. It took two months of planning to confirm everything. An effort was given to try to have local high schools participate in the event as well.

“I thought she was great,” Lopez said. “She speaks in a way not to demean drinking and make you feel bad about your choices, but tries to teach you to do it better and safer.”

The story she shared with her audiences is moving and impactful.

She opened with a video presentation showing people who died by drug and alcohol abuse ending with Joey Upshaw. He was her brother and hero. Joey died in his fraternity’s house at Ohio State University. The siblings were friends with the same groups and partook in the same social actions.

“Since we worked hard, we could party as hard as we wanted,” Upshaw said in relation to being successful in the academic atmosphere of college.

She saw her brother that night; they exchanged a hug and he told her he would see her for lunch the next day. At this time in 2000, a popular drug was going around called GHB (Gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid). After a night of drinking at the bar Joey decided once he got to the house to take a large gulp of GHB, and within a two-hour period he passed away. Upshaw doesn’t blame her brother’s friends with his death and is now motivated to inform people of what to do in similar situations.

“It was nice hearing from someone who wasn’t there to lecture us, but who’s been in our shoes and can relate to real situtations,” said junior Katherine Ramsey.

Upshaw made sure to tell the JU audience that before they start drinking they each need to know their personal limit, eat, avoid the tricky stuff, stick to one drink per hour, have a water, and chill and use the buddy system.

She wishes someone had said something to her brother like she was called out after one of her nights of excessive drinking. At one of her conferences with student athletes, 96 percent of the people who participated wanted someone to tell them to check themselves.

“I’ve been to numerous alcohol abuse seminars. This has been the most touching one yet,” said junior Alex Bulgin. “It was really powerful.”

“I think the speaker gave a wake up call to a lot of students at JU,” said junior Steven Shotola. “In college we all like to have a good time, but in life we need to understand that one bad decision could be our last. Many JU students are going on spring break and it couldn’t have been a better time to hear her story.”

To conclude her presentation she informed the audience about the Good Samaritan Policy, which allows people to make responsible decisions while at the same time shielding them from punishment.

Erica Upshaw’s story was really eye opening, especially before spring break,” said senior Kelly Martens. “We tend to think we’re invincible when we drink, but she made the consequences of alcohol and drug abuse a reality for us.”

“I felt that she was really inspiring and didn’t hold back the truth,” said junior Andrea Laursen. “A lot of alcohol speakers will just tell you, ‘don’t do it,’ but she just told us how to be safe and to take a stand. It opened my eyes to a lot of situations.”

She also informed the audience of a new program she is taking on, UP, a modern and unconventional substance abuse prevention program for middle schools, which would be led by college students. Upshaw is offering an internship in Laguna Beach to help launch the program over the summer.

“It’s all about engaging on positive peer pressure.”

Dimmed lights, a DJ playing hip hop hits and students dancing set the tone as a fight against cancer took place.

In an effort to raise money and awareness, Jacksonville University’s Black Student Union hosted a party in the Kinne Banquet Hall Friday night from 8 p.m. to midnight.

Until 10 p.m. people in the banquet hall were scarse to none. Once the dance concert was finished however, that small group swelled to less than 50 people. The music kept the students in attendance dancing the night away to various hip hop songs that have been made hits among the JU population.

BSU president, senior Nene Flowers, planned the event all on her own. She decided to make a theme out of the party by calling it Pajama Jams.

“Since we are on campus and everyone is invited, we wanted everyone to feel comfortable,” Flowers said. “What’s more comfortable than pajamas?”

The cost to enter the dance floor was $2 at the door which goes towards the BSU’s Relay for Life event later this year. The amount of money Flowers helped raise for Relay for Life was $72.

This was the first party on campus in three years, Flowers said.

The way BSU advertised this event was through Twitter, the word of mouth, flyers and communicating with Flowers as well.

“It was an easy way to get college students to come out and support a good cause with music and dancing,” Flowers said.

This event went along with how Flowers plans to make a better impact on the JU community as a whole and better the name of the BSU at the same time.

Flowers spent about an entire month planning the dance party. Her first idea to raise money was through bake sales but that quickly changed when she realized she did not like baking. The next event BSU plans to host is a talent show on Mar. 30 at 7 p.m. in the Gooding Auditorium along with Kappa Alpha Psi.

“I thought the event was a success, but it could have been better and there may be another event such as this next month,” Flowers said.

Photo courtesy of JU

Swinging in to make an appearance on Jacksonville University’s campus, new sturdy bench swings will be placed around campus in various spots offering students, faculty and staff alike a comforting place to rock back and forth underneath the shade of a tree.

Senior class gifts have been going on and off for the past 12 years as Karen Jackson, Ph.D., professor of biology and marine science, has been the faculty advisor for the Green Key, the organization that heads up the senior class gift, and believes that the gift is a way for seniors to commemorate their times at JU. For the past four years Dr. Jackson has helped to produce successful class gifts for the school.

“Part of the reason you have a class gift is to remember your time here and of course your friends are probably the most important part of your time here,” Jackson said. “Yes academics is important, yes you’re here to study and be something when you grow up, but in reality it’s your friends who get you through the late nights and the long study hours and the breakups and the joys and the pitfalls. Your friends are the ones who get you through, so coming together as a group of friends to remember your alma mater is partly what the class gift is all about.”

There were four separate bench swing styles for the seniors to choose from. Style A would take 22 students to purchase one bench. It is made out of recycled plastic lumber and cost $440. Style B would cost $200 and only take 10 students to purchase a bench; it is a cedar swing. Style C the most expensive choice on the list would take 67 students to purchase one bench costing $1,350 The benefit to this bench is that it would not hang from a tree but be placed on the ground, many students shared concerns about having swings placed in branches worried damage would happen due to excess weight.

Finally, Style D costing $800, taking 40 students to purchase a single bench. It is built out of thermoplastic coated steel, similar to the tables outside the library, and is available in JU green. This bench beat out all the others by winning many students over with its durability.

“The number of swings we can purchase is a function of how many students can give,” Jackson said. “The more students give the more swings we can purchase and the more frequently they can be placed on campus.”

Green Key wants to place the bench swings in places where students congregate and have heavy traffic in order that they will be utilized.

“The reason to give to a class gift is because your university is about to become your alma mater and that means nurturing mother,” Jackson said. “Think about what your mother has done for you and think about what JU has done for you. Think about your professors. Think about your friends. Think about you. Think about how you have grown and changed in these last four plus years.”

On a given year there has been between a 12-to 15- percent participation rate for the class gift, which equates to less than 100 students.

The reason Dr. Jackson is the faculty advisor for the Green Key is because she herself is an alum of JU. After a visit to Dartmouth College, she noticed that the senior class gift had an impact on the campus with generations of class gifts. She wants to start that same tradition on campus.

“It’s my hope that it will become such a tradition that for perhaps maybe my 25th or 30th reunion the Class of 1989 gives a gift back to Jacksonville University,” Jackson said.

Coming this weekend alumni will be retracing their steps on campus from Feb. 17 to Feb. 19. Jacksonville University Alumni Board of Governors and JU Athletics will be cosponsoring the first Winter Alumni Gathering, WAG.

This event is not associated with fall homecoming and will not be as large an event as the fall homecoming, but the office of alumni relations is trying to make this into an eventful weekend for alumni.

“We are trying to coin the term WAG because this will become an annual event happening every year in February,” said Lucas Meers, communications coordinator for alumni and parent relations.

Originally the weekend was planned to center around basketball, but the lacrosse classic is a part of the weekend now as well. Alumni are able to receive discount tickets to the classic.

The kick-off for WAG will be the Winter Alumni Gathering Party beginning at 6:30 p.m. The fall homecoming party was met with high success leading the office of alumni relations to plan another party with a live band, food and two free drinks with every ticket purchase. The party will take place at the Alumni House.

The next morning a champagne breakfast and campus tours begin at 9:00 a.m. There will be a continental breakfast with mimosas in the Kinne Center. The campus tour will be led by JU’s student ambassadors and will showcase the latest additions to the institution.

After the tour, at 11:00 a.m. the alumni will be able to head to the beach volleyball courts settle in for the Alumni vs. Student Volleyball Game against the new Division 1 Beach Volleyball team.

According to Meers, the student-alumni volleyball game will have teams of students going up against alumni. This will help alumni become more involved with the students and get the students to know their alumni. Also, it’s just to have a good time.

Starting at 1:00 p.m. basketball games start at the Jacksonville Memorial Arena, first the women play followed by a Green and Gold Lunch at 2:00 p.m. and finally a men’s basketball game at 3:15 p.m. The basketball teams will be playing against Mercer University.

Dolphins’ Night Out follows the games at 7:00 p.m. at Poe’s Tavern in Atlantic Beach. The school encourages alumni to visit neighboring bars and restaurants in the surrounding area. Alumni could either chose this event or “Laughter on the 23rd Floor,” by Neil Simon at 7:30 p.m. in the Swisher Theater.

Finally to cap the weekend off the JU lacrosse team will be going against Navy in the Moe’s Southwest Classic. Tailgating begins at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets must be purchased at will-call. The game begins at 4:00 p.m.

Similar to University of North Florida’s homecoming, there used to be a big homecoming during basketball season at a basketball game prior to 1998 when the school gained the football team.

“I think it’s going to be a very fun event and will reconnect alums to get back into the school spirit before football season,” Meers said.