By Celina Steinberg PZ ’27 and Willa Umansky PZ ’27

On March 6, Pitzer Visiting Assistant Professor marilyn grell-brisk organized an open mic night in the Grove House with the help of student volunteers in her organizational studies praxis course “Black People in the Inland Empire.” With the additional sponsorship of Pitzer’s Community Engagement Center, The Writing Center, and the Teaching & Learning & Campus Life Committee, the event marked the Grove House’s first open mic of the spring 2024 semester.

The Grove House is known as a beacon of community gathering during the day with the kitchen open and students gathering to work in its cozy interior. Despite dark and stormy weather that evening, the open mic transformed the space into an engaged, community-oriented, and artistic event.

“This is one way that we can … connect with some community members and see what people are working on in the Black community on campus,” Bryce Fitzwilson PZ ’24, a piano performer and student in grell-brisk’s class, said.

The success story of this event was a classic underdog tale. At first, the small turnout and short list of participants filled the air with slight tension. After the first act, though, the energy swelled. The night unfolded to be a beautiful experience of people vulnerably expressing their creativity.

“I think it’s great to get people’s talents in one place,” Corrie Waters PZ ’26, the event’s emcee, said.

A major inspiration for the event came from the open mics held during Pitzer’s annual Storyteller’s Festival, which began in 2022 and held its third edition this year on March 22.

“My students in the Black People in the I.E. class volunteered [in the 2022 Storyteller’s Festival], showed up in the space, took videos … and so I incorporated that into my class,” grell-brisk said.

Isadora Crane PZ ’27, a vocal performer and volunteer organizer from grell-brisk’s class, was not initially expecting to perform at the event. While Crane performed at similar events in high school, she found the opportunity to do so in college exciting.

“This is my first time that I’ve been putting myself out there in college,” she said.

Like Crane, many participants served as both members of the event staff and Open Mic performers. Their multifaceted contributions helped to fully bring the event to life and the community closer together. 

“For this event specifically, all we have to do is show up and interact with people,” Fitzwilson said. “We tried to … create a space that allows people to talk with each other and also highlights the performer[s].”

Nikai Mackie PZ ’26, who worked as a DJ at the event and has experience DJing other 5C events including this year’s PZ Black Flea, hopes to keep participating in future open mic events. 

“I love holding and curating spaces like this that are intimate, vulnerable, and ambient,” Mackie said.

Ultimately, grell-brisk hoped to foster community through different community engagement projects and activities throughout the semester. The Open Mic night is just one way that students can engage with those around them and embrace cross-cultural understanding. 

“We don’t all have to be the same and we don’t all have to think the same, but when we do something together, we create,” grell-brisk said. “Whatever it is that we create, we create.”

Professor marilyn grell-brisk asked for her name to be printed in lowercase to de-center herself from her work and research.