“I’m not a Meadows student, but I got a few words to say,” a computer engineering major, Nariana Sands, said before getting up on stage and reciting her poem.

Sands was among the students who performed at the first Speaking Poetry in Tune (SPIT) show of the year in the Meadows atrium Saturday.

Thanks to senior theatre major Antoinette Crowe, who founded SPIT in 2012, all students are encouraged to speak or sing freely about any issues, triumphs or passions and to lay it all out on the stage without judgment or restriction at the monthly collaboration performances.

Crowe started SPIT with the original vision of creating a place where people could get up and read their poetry.

“I just want people to be able to share what they’re thinking and what they’re feeling and I felt like that didn’t exist [at SMU],” Crowe said.

Students from every nook and cranny of SMU’s campus, regardless of school or major, gather once a month on Saturday evenings in the dimly lit Meadows Atrium.

The venue has an ambiance and vibe that can only be put into words by those who attend. SPIT is an open forum where there is no judgment and no censors.

Performances at SPIT run the gamut. At any given show, audiences are treated to spoken word, slam poetry, a capella, songs on the piano, ukulele, guitar and many more.

There is usually a balance of serious and comedic material, but the acts range from performance to performance. However, one thing is constant: everything that is performed at SPIT is original work.

Once Crowe graduates, junior theatre major Ryan-Patrick McLaughlin will step in and take over SPIT.

“It’s been really great seeing it progress,” McLaughlin said. “It’s been really cool seeing people who I don’t see every day participate.”

McLaughlin explains that the audiences in the first couple SPIT performances were composed mainly of theatre majors, because the people involved were mostly from the theatre department.

However, by the third or fourth performance, non-majors began to show up because word was spreading throughout the school.

Since she founded SPIT, Crowe has witnessed the growth and the positive impact it has had on the SMU community at large firsthand. She noticed that she was beginning to see some “regulars” and started doing features for these various performers.

With regard to the future of SPIT, Crowe plans to get the word out to more people.

“I’m hoping to get it to the English department and then get it out to people who don’t do art at all and then hopefully even outside the school, which might happen after I’m gone,” Crowe said.

But Crowe’s vision of SPIT has already made a difference beyond just Meadows. She explained that a kid comes from her high school each month to see the performances, even though he is not from SMU. Once, there was even an elderly couple who came in, sat down and gave her positive feedback about the performance and expressed interest in seeing more of her work.

“SPIT has introduced me to new people that I normally wouldn’t get the chance to meet because I am in a different school on SMU’s campus,” junior accounting and public policy major Liz Crowell said.

“I think that it provides an outlet for not only the people who go up onstage and perform but also the people who attend and watch it because even though they’re not performing, they still get to see what it does to people and how it can be beneficial. It kind of opens their eyes.”

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Catch the next performance on Oct. 20.