UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS TEAM COMES FROM BEHIND TO WIN NATIONAL POETRY SLAM COMPETITION

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Despite coming into the final round of competition in last place, the poetry slam team from the University of Arkansas won the Third Annual National Poetry Slam Competition on Saturday, April 5, at the UARK Bowl. The competition is sponsored by the Association of College Unions International (ACUI).

To qualify for the national competition, teams must first have won a competition at their home university, then scored high enough at the ACUI Regional Poetry Slams. The two-day competition included teams from the University of California-Berkeley, State University of New York- Oneonta, Eastern Michigan University, University of Michigan, Suffolk County Community College, Rice University, Georgia Southern University and the University of Arkansas.

The first day of the competition consisted of preliminary rounds, whittling the number of teams down to six for the semifinals. The four teams with the highest cumulative scores after the semifinals went on to the final round of competition.

Scores from the final competition were close, with Arkansas beating UC-Berkeley by a tenth of a point. Less than two points separated the last place team, SUNY-Oneonta, from the first place team. Rice University finished in third place after reaching first place during the semi-finals.

Russ Ritter, a member of the University of Arkansas team, received the highest individual score in the finals. His performance in the final competition was met with a standing ovation from the audience.

Coaches from the eight competing teams gave individual awards to some of the performers for extraordinary achievement. Ritter received the "Overall Kick Ass" award for being available to all the visiting teams and going to extra lengths to accommodate everyone involved in the competition. Edward de Leon, another University of Arkansas team member, received an award for the best poem about the war in Iraq.

The University of Arkansas poetry slam team comprised: Edward de Leon, sophomore, Fine Art, Jacksonville; Cassidy Pond, freshman, Siloam Springs; Maurice Robinson, junior, English, Prichard; Russ Ritter, junior, Psychology, Hope; and Jessica Keahey, junior, civil engineering, Pearcey. Due to a scheduling conflict, Robinson was unable to compete in the final competition and was replaced by an alternate from Suffolk County. In Robinson's slot, the University of Arkansas team performed a group piece entitled "Haiku Orgy."

"I am so excited about our performances today. The whole team went on stage and gave everything they had, which pushed us above the other teams. Winning the event wasn't why we competed, but it is nice to be recognized for your work," Ritter said.

Poetry slams began in 1986 as a venue for poets to perform — not just read — their work and receive feedback from audience members. Five judges are selected from the audience, and each poet is given a score between 1 and 10, with10 being the highest, after each performance. The highest and lowest scores are thrown out, and the remaining scores are added to determine the individual scores. The highest possible score for a performance is 30.

During the ACUI National Poetry Slam Competition, teams of four poets represented each university. The individual scores for each team member were tallied to reach the overall team score, which determined the ranking of the teams.

ACUI has been in existence since 1914, and its members represent nearly 1,000 campuses around the world. ACUI provides seminars, programs and services to professionals serving college students.

University Programs is a student run organization dedicated to providing quality education and entertainment programs for the UA student body. For more information about University Programs, please visit http://www.uark.edu//up or call 479-575-5255.