The Wick Poetry Center held an open house during Homecoming weekend and showcased the Global Peace Poem.

The Global Peace Poem, released Sept. 15, is a poem anyone can add to and is in memory of the May 4 shootings. 

The center has released this poem around the world and invites anyone to add a line or stanza around the theme of peace and harmony. 

To add your own piece, you read the sample of “My Voice” and choose a prompt such as ‘My Voice is’ or ‘I want.’ You type in your line of poetry and in 24 hours it will join the community. 

Likewise, at the open house, the interns gave tours of the house and told the history of the Poetry Center. They also mentioned events the center holds such as poetry readings and workshops. 

“This is kind of like my home, I came to Kent as an older student, as well as a transfer student so I didn’t know anybody,” Emily Radebaugh, a sophomore American Sign Language major, said. “So I came in here one day and I just started going to their events, participating in their workshops… It’s this really important place to me.”

The house originally belonged to May Prentice, one of the first female professors at Kent State in 1912. After she passed away, her sisters rented out the house to students until the ‘50s. 

The Poetry Center is open to anyone in the community to enjoy, whether you write poetry or not.  

“Making poetry an accessible thing for everyone. It’s not something that only English majors write… or only artsy people can do. It’s something for everyone. And I think that’s a really cool thing,” Catie Young, a junior English major, said. 

In 1984, Robert Wick established the Wick Poetry Center after his son and nephew, Stanley Wick and Tom Wick, passed away. The center has been running since then and is now led by David Hassler. 

“I like the environment that it offers,” Maria Ledinsky said, on her first time being in the center. “It just feels like a calming environment away from all the stress of the college even though it’s right on the campus.”

Contact Ryanne Locker at [email protected].