Students Showcase Talent At Unity in Verse Poetry Contest
Liberty University’s Office of Program Development and Support, along with LU One, hosted its first Unity in Verse Poetry contest Feb. 7 in the DeMoss Hall Grand Lobby to showcase students’ poetry talents.
Melissa Harris, the communication and branding director for LU One, along with the Program Development and Support events team planned this event to encourage students to create an example of biblical unity via poetry. Harris also served as the emcee for the event.
“They were tasked with poetry in any style, like haiku or traditional poetry … they just had to have the theme be biblical unity,” Harris said.
Photo by Anna Wheat | @annawheatphotography
Harris said the verse that inspired this theme is Ephesians 4:11-13.
According to Harris, over 200 students expressed interest in attending the event after she sent out an email to the student body. She said 25 students shared their poems during the readings, with the executive winner, junior Emily Trip, receiving a $100 gift card and a poem spotlight in the Liberty Champion.
Harris was most excited about seeing the students’ talents and creativity exhibited by writing poems based on the theme of biblical unity, and seeing how these talents highlight connections with Christ.
“We can be unified through poetry, some students have talent in photography, or public speaking, or graphic design … we all have these different talents and that helps us unify in the body of Christ,” Harris said.
The DeMoss Hall Grand Lobby had tall tables decorated with flowers and white tablecloths, along with various displays of the students’ poems. The audience listened expectantly as the students read their poems onstage.
Pastries, coffee and water were offered to the attendees, along with a bulletin detailing the names of the poets and the times that they would be reading. After the readings, the poets stood by their displayed pieces so guests could ask questions about their work.
Senior Zyaiah Harvey shared her poetry at the event and said poetry can be used as a powerful form of artistic language.
“I think poetry is such a beautiful thing … where even if it’s one or two stanzas, it can hit you so hard, and I think that same thing that Christ put you in those small moments, it’ll hit a lot,” Harvey said.
Emily Trip, author of “The Body,” was crowned the executive winner for the Unity in Verse Poetry Contest. Trip said she was inspired to enter the contest after feeling like it was something God wanted her to try.
The winning poem by Emily Trip
“I kind of felt the Lord egging me on, like ‘Hey you write so much poetry, you do all these things, why not give it a shot, why not go put it out there and use the gifts I’ve given you,’” Trip said.
Popular vote winners included Khashaad Johnson in first, Adam Diehl in second and Sarah Robosky in third.
Simpson is a news reporter for the Liberty Champion.