Founded by: Alicia Francis, Jamie Manning, Robert Haggerty, George Castle and Robb Thibault on October 24, 2001. Hunt Union is the certified poetry slam venue on campus with Poetry Slam Inc. and member of the Association of College Unions International.
# of shows since October 2001: 70
Average Attendance Since October 2001: 84 persons per slam.
One of the most diverse programs on campus!!!
Venue: Waterfront Room- Hunt Union
Length: 40 Minutes
Slam follows and is limited to first OSC 10 poets or employees who sign up at stage. During the qualifying slams, 5 judges are randomly selected from the audience with diversity in mind. At the Grand Slam, guest judges are selected from faculty and staff or surrounding community.
Current Organizing Body: Hunt Union & The Poetry Slam Association (PSA) and coordinated by Robb Thibault, Director of Hunt Union. PSA members host the shows, select judges, conduct score & time keeping responsibilities, distribute publicity, and meet monthly as needed.
Highlights:
We hosted the first Three Poetry Cross Training Camps.
The Big O’ Poetry Slam has featured more than a dozen national poetry slam champions.
We have sent teams to the Hunt Union Poetry Slam Nationals nine years in a row and have made three finals stage appearances including taking the silver medal at the 2005 College Nationals.
We've won four ACUI regional poetry slam championships.
History | Grand Slammers & Past Teams
The first Hunt Union poetry slam occurred on October 24, 2001. These key folks played a major part in the organization of the first poetry slam: Alicia Francis, Jamie Manning, Robert Haggerty, George Castle and Robb Thibault, co-founders of the BIG O’ Poetry Slam! Robb Thibault served as the ACUI onsite tournament coordinator for the Hunt Unions Poetry Slam Invitational from its founding in 2001 at the University of Michigan until 2006.
Qualifying poets at the Grand Slam Team Selection on March 6, 2002 were:
George Castle
Margaux Axelrod
Jamie Manning,
Lisa Malcolm,
Kanaiah Schultz
Reynaldo Melendez
Calif Clark
Carmelo Pineda.
After a heroic battle, the first OSC poetry slam team was named.
2002 SUNY Oneonta Team:
George Castle-grand slam champion
Jamie Manning
Kanaiah Schultz
Lisa Malcolm
Margaux Axelrod, alternate
Dr. Joshua Rosenthal, Coach
Finished 7th at the 2002 Hunt Unions Poetry Slam Invitational at Case Western Reserve University.
Qualifying poets at the Grand Slam Team Selection on February 12, 2003 were:
Kwanita “Kiwi” Beecham
Lisa Malcolm
Kahiem Brockington
Reynaldo “Bamboo MC” Melendez
Kelly Smith
T.J. Natole
George Castle
Milton Morel
Margauex Axelrod.
From the dust of this verbal brawl the 2003 OSC Team was announced.
2003 SUNY Oneonta Team:
George Castle, co-grand slam champion
Reynaldo “Bamboo MC” Melendez, co-grand slam champion
Lisa Malcom
Kwanita “Kiwi” Beecham
Margauex Axelrod, alternate
Dr. Richie Lee, Coach
Regional Champions’ at first ACUI Region 2 Poetry Slam at Syracuse University, 2003.
Finished 4th (Finals Stage) at the 2003 Hunt Unions Poetry Slam Invitational at University of Arkansas.
Qualifying poets at the Grand Slam Team Selection on February 11, 2004, were:
Kevin Fehr
Karlyn Banks
Lisa Malcolm
Jared Whalen
Reynaldo "Bamboo MC" Melendez
T.J. Natole,
Danny Hubbard
Nicholas Reyes
Tovah DiPrinzio.
The results formed our third team.
2004 SUNY Oneonta Team:
Reynaldo "Bamboo MC" Melendez, grand slam champion
Lisa Malcolm
T.J. Natole
Nicholas Reyes
Danny Hubbard, alternate
Dr. Richie Lee, Coach
Regional Champions’ at ACUI Region 2 Poetry Slam at SUNY Oneonta, 2004.
Finished 5th (semifinalists) at the 2004 Hunt Unions Poetry Slam Invitational at University of California, Berkeley
Qualifying poets at the Grand Slam Team Selection on February 15, 2005 were:
Tovah DiPrinzio
Jared Whalen
Reynaldo Melendez “Bamboo MC”
Anthony Martinez “Fascious”
Dan Stalter,
Danny Hubbard “Jimmitheloch”
Kevin Fehr
Nicholas Reyes,
Kaitlyn Wheeler
Katie Pawlowski
After the two rounds of slam the 2005 team was announced.
2005 SUNY Oneonta Team:
Danny Hubbard, “Jimmitheloch”, grand slam champion
Anthony Martinez, “Fascious”
Kevin Fehr
Reynaldo Melendez “Bamboo MC”
Dan Stalter, alternate
Nicholas Reyes, Coach
Regional runner-up at ACUI Region 2 Poetry Slam at the Cornell University, 2005.
Finished 2nd earning the silver medal (Finals Stage) at the 2005 Hunt Unions Poetry Slam Invitational at West Chester University, PA.
University of California-Santa Cruz took the top honors with a 116.6, SUNY Oneonta followed with a 116.1 and the bronze went to the University of Pennsylvania 113.6.
Qualifying poets at the Grand Slam Team Selection on January 31, 2006 were:
Matthew Falconer
Shaniqua Peterson
Anthony Martinez,“Fascious”
Kadiann Walker
Israel Manaloto, “Izzy”
Danny Hubbard, “Jimmitheloch”
Tovah DiPrinzio
Dan Stalter, “Diabolical”
Sean John Iacopelli
Cassidy Jasinski
Jared Whalen
Jessica Cappelluti
2006 SUNY Oneonta Team:
Anthony Martinez, “Fascious” grand slam champion
Dan Stalter, “Diabolical”
Israel Manaloto, “Izzy”
Danny Hubbard, “Jimmitheloch”
Kadiann Walker, alternate
Reynaldo Melendez “Bamboo MC”, coach
Regional runner-up at ACUI Region 2 Poetry Slam at Alfred University, 2006.
Finished 8th (semifinalists) at the 2006 Hunt Unions Poetry Slam Invitational at Texas State University, San Marcos.
Qualifying poets at the Grand Slam Team Selection on January 30, 2007 were:
Sean Gallagher
Sean John Iacopelli
Jessica Spencer, “Lil‘ J”
Sierra DeMulder
Anthony Martinez, “Fascious”
Steve Monzon
Jonathan Stock, “Hector Chainsaw Korea”
Dan Stalter, “Diabolical”
Andrew Hoffer, “Hoffa’
2007 SUNY Oneonta Team
Anthony Martinez, “Fascious” grand slam champion
Dan Stalter, “Diabolical”
Sierra DeMulder
Jonathan Stock, “Hector Chainsaw Korea”
Kadiann Walker, alternate
Regional Champions, Northeast Slam Spectacular/ACUI Region 2 Poetry Slam at SUNY Oneonta, 2007.
Finished 14th at 2007 Hunt Unions Poetry Slam Invitational at Eastern Michigan University.
Qualifying poets at the Grand Slam Team Selection on December 5, 2007 were:
Dimmy Doukas
Angela Cobb
Dan Stalter, “Diabolical”
Anthony Martinez, “Fascious”
Cassidy Jasinski
Corey Ewing, “Saint Peace”
Sean Gallagher
Sean John Iacopelli
Kristen Tomanocy
Jamie Mahoney
2008 SUNY Oneonta Team:
Sean Gallagher, grand slam champion
Corey Ewing, “Saint Peace”
Kristen Tomanocy
Dan Stalter, “Diabolical”
Anthony Martinez, “Fascious”, alternate and coach
Robb Thibault. Assistant
Regional Champions ACUI Region 2 Poetry Slam at SUNY Brockport, 2008.
Finished 4th (finals stage) at the 2008 Hunt Unions Poetry Slam Invitational at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.
Qualifying poets at the Grand Slam Team Selection on December 3, 2008 were:
Israel Manaloto, “Izzy”
Meghan Hall
Angela Cobb
Jessica Bailey
Kristen Tomanocy
Jordan Aily
Seth Wallin
Christopher Bax, “Subconscious”
Dave Lansing
August Johnson, “Johnny Truant”
Dana Nalven
2009 SUNY Oneonta Team:
Christopher Bax, “Subconscious”, grand slam champion
Jessica Bailey
Angela Cobb
Israel Manaloto, “Izzy”
Kristen Tomanocy, alternate and coach
Zachary Hilton, ‘Hypothetic”, assistant
Regional Runner up ACUI Region 2 Poetry Slam at SUNY Geneseo, 2009
Finished 16th at the 2009 Hunt Unions Poetry Slam Invitational at the University of Pennsylvania
Qualifying poets at the Grand Slam Team Selection on November 11, 2009 were:
Alicia Bong
Mary Taibi
Zachary Hilton, “Hypothetic”
Jacob Cruz, “Mad Man”
Sean John Iacopelli, “Reckless Poet”
Christopher Bax, “Subconscious”
Julia Yarinsky
Brittany Weidel
Kristen Tomanocy
Maryanne Rojas
Meghan Hall
Seth Wallin
2010 SUNY Oneonta Team:
Kristen Tomanocy, grand slam champion
Christopher Bax, “Subconscious”
Mary Taibi
Seth Wallin
Maryanne Rojas, alternate
TJ Natole, coach
Robb Thibault. assistant
?? ACUI Region 2 Poetry Slam at SUNY Binghamton, 2010.
?? 2010 Hunt Unions Poetry Slam Invitational at the Emerson College, Boston.