Last year, the annual Student Events and Activities Council’s (SEAC) Winter Ball was mysteriously cancelled at the last minute to students’ confusion and disappointment. This past Friday, Feb. 6, SEAC rectified last year’s shortcomings by hosting the Winter Ball on a yacht with the theme “A Starry Night,” taking attendees on a cruise around the Seattle Harbor.
Due to the limited capacity of the boat, tickets sold completely out. The atmosphere felt exclusive because while the boat was at sea and the ball was on, nobody was able to embark or disembark during the dance.
Brianna Rossi Chong, a graduate coordinator in the Center for Student Involvement, oversaw the planning of the Winter Ball over a period of five months. She was responsible for arranging the entertainment and venue, and for working with Seattle University leadership to gain permission for a school-sponsored event off campus.
When brainstorming ideas for the ball, Rossi Chong proposed the boat venue.
“We were trying to think of a unique Seattle experience we could give students that doesn’t just feel like a prom repeat,” Rossi Chong said.
SEAC started planning the event during the fall quarter. Josslyn Chavarria, a fourth-year and the president of SEAC, said that this was one of the largest SEAC-hosted events of the school year.
“We’re divided into a creative and programming team. The Winter Ball is the one event during the year where all hands are truly on deck from every aspect of the team,” Chavarria said.
Chavarria said that SEAC wanted to ensure this dance made up for calling off last year’s.
“We felt that if we were to have continued with the event in the way that things were happening last year, it wouldn’t be a fair experience to the students. We wanted to be able to put our best work forward, and that’s what I think we did really well with this year. I’m really proud that we were able to come together and sell out this event as well,” Chavarria said.
According to Rossi Chong, there was an impressive turnout of graduate students and students from Cornish College of the Arts at Seattle U.
“We had over 50 or 60 Cornish students, I believe. So that’s a really big turnout for our first big event after the SU and Cornish merger. I’m really proud that we were able to spread the word and gather that community together,” Rossi Chong said.
Rio Slevin, a second-year cellular molecular biology major, enjoyed the ball overall and said that one of their favorite parts of the dance was the free mocktails and hot chocolate. Bottomless Shirley Temples for all!
“I love any opportunity to get dressed up fancy. I think it’s really fun, and I think in general, college students really enjoy that because we don’t necessarily get a lot of opportunities to get fancied up. I know I definitely enjoyed it,” Slevin said.
Slevin noted that the DJ was a potential point of improvement. They said that there were a lot of bad songs until students were allowed to make requests. They also expressed disappointment with the length and mixing of the songs, arguing that playing the whole song grew boring, and that abruptly jumping into a new one could be a bit jarring. At one point, the DJ played “Low” by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain twice. Both times the song approached its end, students did not get “low” as the chorus called for. In fact, they stood high.
On the other hand, Chavarria said that her favorite part of the ball was the ability to let loose and take a break from her work.
“Dancing with my teammates was really fun. Working the events all the time can be a little tiring, so it’s nice to be able to just enjoy it and feel like you’re a member there too,” Chavarria said.
Chavarria also emphasized the importance of SEAC, which she hopes eases the transition from high school to college for Seattle U students.
“Doing that transition from high school to college, it can feel like you sort of lose touch with some of the extracurriculars that you had enjoyed in the past. SEAC is a way for people to meet new friends as well [as] to have new experiences and just build and strengthen that community on campus through free accessible events,” Chavarria said.
The next SEAC-hosted event is Battle of the Bands, which will take place on Feb. 27 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Student Center. Battle of the Bands will feature live performances from student bands and solo artists alike to showcase the artistic talent of the student body.
