On the Saturday of Homecoming Weekend, the Latino Student Alliance (LSA) and Black Student Alliance (BSA) hosted their very own Fall Formal event. In the week before, a poster was sent in the Royal Radar, the student-wide group chat, about food, music, and a masquerade dance. Excitement buzzed between groups as it got closer to the day. When students arrived the night of the dance, however, there was a bit of a mix up as LSA’s commissioned catering didn’t show up, but they worked to fix their mistake. Even though the event started late, students sat down and the masquerade dinner began.
With black and gold as the color scheme, suits and dresses of all kinds were worn to the dinner. BSA and LSA provided free masks for those who did not have one, and at each table was a set of fancy white plasticware lined with golden colors. The room was decorated beautifully, with golden confetti, fancy tablecloths, white fabric chairs, and a stage for the announcers. With everyone sitting down, students had time to talk among themselves while waiting for the food to be ready. LSA and BSA went out of their way to make sure everyone had a place to sit before starting the dinner.
“The best part was definitely the food,” first-year Zainab Kamran said during an interview about the event. “I especially liked the sliders and drinks,” sophomore Rose Powell agreed. The drinks included a choice of a mocktail or cranberry concoction, which most people enjoyed. However, first-year Tom Breeden says the food was not to his liking. “I felt like it was pretty dry, and I know it was a last minute thing since the original food got cancelled, but it was just hard/card/dry.”
Even so, there was plenty to eat for everybody despite the hiccups, and dinner did go on as planned. The biggest issue came from the afterparty. “It took far too long. I didn’t even stay for the dancing because they weren’t going to open it until 11 [p.m.]. For an event that’s usually centered around dancing, that’s a long time to wait even with food,” Powell said of the after party, which many were too tired to participate in by the time it started. When asked what their least favorite part about the event was, Kamran stated it was the music.
While there was plenty of music, Breeden mentioned that it didn’t feel like dance music. The DJ focused on the idea of Latin music rather than playing good songs to dance to. It wasn’t until much later in the afterparty that people got together to dance. By the time they started to, a significant number of guests had already left.
It was extremely late by the time the event ended and many people were tired. Even so, there are plenty who still had fun overall, and agreed that they enjoyed the event. With the many loops the clubs had to go through, the event turned out to be a good time for anyone who went. Even those who left early stated they still enjoyed the event.
