Binghamton University students will get the chance to have their voices heard and performed through song and spoken word when Breeding Grounds holds an open forum Friday night.

Breeding Grounds, a newly Student Association-chartered network of artists and musicians, will provide musical and spoken accompaniment between student speeches at the event, titled “Whose University Is This?” scheduled for 6 p.m. in Lecture Hall 8.

“We want to help the student body and our fellow peers to get a voice on campus,” said Omari Miller, senior English major and president of Breeding Grounds. “We want to find out how the campus feels and if their concerns are truly being taken into account.”

According to Miller, some current issues students face include the cancellation of cultural events, such as the Caribbean Student Association’s Carnival, as well as a lack of parking spots on campus and a lack of space for student groups to operate on campus.

“A lot of people are asking what can we do?” Miller said. “We just want to make sure that the student body raises questions to get people thinking and find out [solutions] from there.”

Jahziel Lazala, senior sociology and Latin American and Caribbean studies double major and treasurer of the club, said she expects 50 to 60 people to attend the forum, but hopes for more.

Miller got the idea for the event after attending the CSA’s rally last Friday.

“Once I saw the passion with people who lost their cultural expression, I sympathized with them as an artist,” he said.

The organization, which is made up of a collection of student sculptors, poets, videographers, rappers, singers and more, will be supplementing speeches with spoken word performances and songs related to the issues being discussed.

“They will be discussing injustice against student rights,” Lazala said.

After the forum, Miller said Breeding Grounds plans to send out information on the subjects which speakers discussed to student groups on campus.

Members of Breeding Grounds hope the event will be the first in a call to action against student issues on campus.

“It’s really a stepping stone,” Miller said.

Outside of the open forum, the group aims to perform at least four times per semester.

Last Thursday, they hosted on campus titled “Living The Live,” where students where given instructions on how to perform onstage and prepare for shows. Several comedy sketches and skits were performed at the event from audience members.