A shimmer of lights and the pulse of music filled the Euler Atrium on Saturday night as Taylor University hosted its annual President’s Ball. For the first time the event was split into two waves, opening the doors for 1,200 students, double the usual capacity.
Usually capped at 600 attendees because of fire code limits, the ball has long been one of Taylor’s most in-demand events.
“Last year, those 600 tickets sold out in five minutes,” senior Emmaline Farley, Student Activities Council (SAC) president, said. “So this year, we were like, clearly, we need to come up with a better plan. Euler’s the only building on campus that we're able to have the dance at, and the max, max capacity is 600, so it was just the [only] option is having two waves.”
SAC introduced a new format with two dance sessions, each an hour and a half long, with a half-hour reset in between.
Tickets for both waves went on sale Sept. 1 and sold out within 35 minutes. Ninety-three percent were claimed in the first five minutes.
While some students lamented that the new structure divided friend groups across waves, most agreed that the system made the event more accessible.
“With having two sections, there was able to be 400 more people that were able to go and experience pres ball,” Andrew Crane, a junior SAC member who helped with decorations and ticket scanning, said. “In years past, at least, from my experience as well, tickets will sell out in two minutes. But this year actually, there's opportunities for people to actually get to go if they wanted to.”
For many attendees, the decorations gave the atrium the feel of an upscale venue. SAC divided its team into groups to design both the main level and the upper atrium. The result included shimmering disco balls, purple and gold accents and lights strung across the space.
“I don’t know how they made something so beautiful out of this patio in Euler, but it’s super, super cool,” junior Marina de Castro Vasconcelos said. “It looks like an event center.”
President Michael Lindsay and his wife, Rebecca, joined students on the dance floor during both sessions, which many students appreciated. Lindsay also contributed to planning by suggesting color themes, which SAC adapted into its design.
The music, however, received mixed reviews. While many students enjoyed dancing to familiar songs, some wished for more variety.
“They're playing the same music they did for the block party, and I feel like they could have switched it up a little bit more,” de Castro Vasconcelos said. “But it was still a really fun atmosphere.”
Behind the scenes, SAC members coordinated catering, security and scheduling.
“I just kind of did big picture things,” Farley said. “Communicating stuff to my team that needed to be picked out, catering, posters, picking out what we wanted for that. A lot of working out with scheduling the night, because we had two waves this year. So it was a lot of just, How's that gonna work?”
For first-time SAC member Crane, the chance to serve while experiencing the ball for himself was a highlight.
“I thought it was really fun, especially being my first year,” Crane said. “Being able to actually get to experience it, but also be part of the team that put it on, and also scanning tickets and getting to talk to a bunch of people and getting to dance, it was all so much fun.”
As the night wound down, students headed out of Euler, already talking about next year.
“Definitely, definitely go next year if you have the opportunity,” Crane said. “To everyone that didn't go this year, you don't realize what you're missing out on.”
