Athenaeum hosts event: “A Night of Entertainment” on Husman stage

On Sept. 20, Xavier’s Husman stage saw many of its own students perform at “A Night of Entertainment,” an event hosted by the Xavier Athenaeum. For over a hundred years, the
Athenaeum, Xavier’s literary magazine, has been the center of creative literature at Xavier. But this year the club is looking to expand their focus to include not only literature and photography but other forms of artistic expression as well.
“A Night of Entertainment” was the club’s first step in this
direction. “[We] are in a transitory state this year,” performer
and Athenaeum member David Franke said. “We are working to maintain the club’s rich history while simutaneously meeting the demands of a modern campus.” “The mission of the Athenaeum is twofold: to create an atmosphere at Xavier that cultivates artistic expression and to provide an outlet
for aspiring writers to get their work published,” Franke said.
The event was comprised of various performers from within
the Xavier community, including a spoken word poet, an electronic dance DJ group, a country artist, a rapper and an indie artist. The night opened with Jay O’Speaks, who performed two poems about current issues in today’s society, one titled “Hide and Seek” and the other titled “Lil Mama.”
Michael Nelson, Xavier’s most prominent country artist, follo wed O’Speaks. Nelson announced during his performance that he will be releasing a single on iTunes, “Country Boy Swag,” soon and recorded with Jason Aldean’s band this summer. The concert then followed with Sam Minelli, a local Cincinnati artist. Minelli’s sister is a student at Xavier and he is a Cincinnati native. Following Minelli’s low-key, mellow performance, the event took a more fast-paced turn with 3rd Dimension’s performance, followed by Xavier rapper David Franke. In addition to the concert aspect of the evening, it also
served as the Athenaeum’s first informational meeting of the year. Members of the Athenaeum board met with interested students and explained how they could get involved in this up-and-coming organization on campus. Events such as these, in combination with the literary magazine that Athenaeum publishes each year, will provide an outlet for students’ creative expression. This event is the first in a series that Athenaeum hopes to continue throughout the year to encourage creativity and artistic expression on Xavier’s campus.