Karaoke w/ the Women's Center | Photo by Bethany Althauser | The Wright State Guardian
On Friday, Aug. 23, the Women’s Center held a Karaoke night in the Cultural Identity Center that saw wide success, with over 250 students in attendance.
The event
A little before 8:00 p.m., the doors to the event opened, and students began coming in, socializing and enjoying the snacks available near the entrance.
Bobbie Szabo, Assistant Director of the Women’s Center, shared that she was thrilled with the outcome. Szabo explained that last year’s Karaoke Night had about 75 students in attendance, making the growth to this year’s 250 shocking and exciting.
A sign-up sheet was floating around for students to sing, but Szabo shared that they had to shut it down after only about an hour due to having too many people sign up, and not enough time left in the event.
“Some of my favorite moments were, someone, sang ‘Country Roads’, and everybody was singing along, and they turned the flashlights on their phones, and they were waving it back and forth. And it was such a nice moment of connection and community,” Szabo said.
“Our job is so much better when people want to engage with us. It makes me feel very optimistic about this school year and about the work that the Women’s Center can do.”
Attendees’ experiences
Grant Rynders, a freshman computer science major, was the first one to sing at the event. He broke the ice by singing “I’m Just Ken,” from the hit 2023 movie “Barbie.”
Rynders explained that he and one of his friends in the audience had previously performed the song for a lip sync battle with their youth group. While he said he felt uncomfortable at first, he settled in eventually.
“We choreographed that thing for days,” Rynders said. “It was very awkward doing it on my own, since I was usually just back up.”
Despite his feeling awkward internally, the crowd was enthused by his great performance of the beloved song, with people cheering Rynders on throughout his performance.
James Pamer, a freshman acting major, performed “My Way” by Frank Sinatra, earning phone flashlights being waved at him and people clapping along as he belted the tune, hitting every note perfectly.
“I want to do voice acting, so naturally I figured, I’m so into messing with my voice and doing stuff like that, [I] might as well go for singing,” Pamer said.
The crowd loved his performance and was blown away by the control he had over his voice.
Natalie Hayward, a sophomore English major, did not perform but shared her great experience soaking in the atmosphere.
“Watching new freshmen break out of their shells and be vulnerable enough to perform was such a cool experience,” Hayward said. “Bobbie [Szabo] does such an amazing job of cultivating a safe and accepting environment in the WSU Women’s Center.”
Behind the scenes
Elizabeth Harvey is the Student Worker for the Women’s Center. She is an acting major, with a minor in women, gender, and sexuality studies.
“[I] had such a great time getting to see how many freshmen came to sing and additionally getting to know more about the Cultural and Identity Center,” said Harvey.
Harvey explained that later in the event, which went past 11:00 p.m., students all started to sing and dance along with each other’s performances. “It was really special to see,” Harvey said.
The Women’s Center will be holding more events soon, including Tie Dye-versity, which will be Thursday, Sept. 5 at noon on the North Lawn.
