JACOB KONST/Arizona Daily Wildcat Aerospace engineering senior Rashad Robinson reads Friday night in the Cellar restaurant in the Student Union Memorial Center. The reading was the opening of Phi Beta Sigma's semi-annual poetry and open mic night.

Visitors to the Cellar restaurant in the Student Union Memorial Center were in for a surprise Friday when the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity held their semi-annual poetry and open mic night.

The night started off slowly but gathered steam as students and members of the Tucson community spoke and read on issues such as love, racism, friendship, spirituality, the war in Iraq and hip-hop culture.

The poetry night is a 10-year-old tradition of the Alpha Alpha Epsilon chapter of Phi Beta Sigma, and is a place where anyone is free to speak their mind, said Skyler Miles, a music junior and a member of Phi Beta Sigma.

"It starts off with about 20 people in the audience and then it just grows," said Miles.

Usually held once a semester, the chapter is hoping to have the open mic night once a month from now on, said Gerard Kimbuende, president of the chapter.

As the event started, people were reluctant to start signing up for a spot.

"No one wants to be the first one," said Kimbuende, an electrical engineering senior.

Most of the performers did it for fun but some are hoping to turn it into a profession and are using the open mic nights as a testing ground for their material.

Eli Bedrosian, an alumnus, said he has been writing music since he was 16 and reading music since he was 18.

"These are my humble beginnings," Bedrosian said.

Bedrosian considers what he writes to be "good old fashioned rap."

"It's not gangster-rap, its 'conscious rap,'" Bedrosian said.

More often than not, people will compose their poetry and writing during the event, drawing inspiration from the other performers.

"People write things while they're here, sometimes there is even singing," Kimbuende said.

In addition to providing those who want to perform professionally, the event also gave those who do it for fun a chance to test the waters and get feedback.

"That's the beauty of open mic night, people can figure out, 'Am I doing the right thing?'" said Mohammed Mahmoud, a hydrology graduate student.

Mahmoud, who joined the fraternity in Michigan, said the poetry night is very popular in other chapters as well.

"It's probably one of my favorite events. It's just clean fun," Mahmoud said.

For some, open mic night is the only place where they feel accepted.

"This is the only place I feel comfortable sharing it (poetry). Most people here are my friends, so I'm not going to hold back," said Isabel Aguirre, a biology and science education junior.

Larissa Smith, an anthropology senior, said she has been writing since she was a little kid, yet she was nervous.

"Part of me was nervous because I hadn't read in a long time. It was one of the first times I've been nervous - but nervous is good," Smith said.