It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and a lost tradition is being brought back to Buena Vista University (BVU). Just this past week, students were invited to attend BVU’s winter formal dance – the campus’s very own Winter Ball. 

Immediately following the annual Christmas Dinner being held on Thursday, Dec. 6 at 5 p.m., the Christmas Ball will begin. Located in the Harold Walter Siebens Forum Foyer, Student Senate shared that a live DJ, refreshments, and dancing will be present for students to enjoy from 7-9 p.m. 

Sophomore and Student Senate member Ethan Ankrum has taken the chair position in leading this event and is very excited about how this event will be brought back to life. 

“1988 was the last recorded dance here, and we as a Senate thought it would be awesome to bring it back,” said Ankrum. “And this time, instead of having it run through sororities, which used to be a big thing here on campus a long, long time ago, we decided that we would do as Senate and team up with some other student organizations and get it going!” 

Both Ankrum and Student Senate President Alan Maldonado conducted research in the archives and ended up discovering the Winter Ball used to be really popular with lots of people in attendance. 

“We thought, why not bring it back now. There’s no time better than now. It doesn’t have to be a sorority thing. We think everybody should be welcomed here. So we decided that that would be an amazing event that gets students involved,” said Ankrum. 

Working with both the Advertising Communications Committee and BVU’s own marketing team, Ankrum has been in charge of making sure that everything has been getting completed effectively and on time. 

“We have established the email everyone received, and then we created a cool little poster that tells you more about the event. I have been working with Alan and Emily Brewer to get all this information out there,” Ankrum said. 

Fellow Senate member Josh Cole has also been helping out with the planning and shared that Student Senate has been collaborating with the Student Activities Board (SAB) and Residence Hall Association (RHA) to make it a successful event.  

“It should be a really fun time and hopefully, this will be the beginning of an awesome tradition here at BVU, one that I and the other Senators are excited and honored to be a part of,” said Cole. 

RHA President Gumwil Riak adds that students can expect a lot of fun out of this event, and that all the organizations that have collaborated to put on the event are excited for students to see what it holds.  

“Students should expect to have a great time dancing, taking pictures, winning money, and creating memories that they can look back on in years to come,” said Riak. 

Looking at the days preceding the event, students will have the opportunity to give song suggestions of what they would like to hear. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, a table will be set up outside The Serve where students can go and write down ideas for the DJ in order to create a fun and diverse atmosphere. Furthermore, those who give ideas will be asked to take a picture of the poster at the table and share it on Snapchat with their friends to spread the word. 

While the success of the event has yet to be seen, Ankrum hopes to continue this tradition for years to come. He adds that making the Winter Ball bigger and working with a larger variety of student organizations will hopefully make a big conglomerate project that is fun and relaxing for everyone.  

“Honestly, you can expect just lots of music and a fun time. I hope students realize that this is just for fun, because I feel like too often a lot of events seem more formalized. That’s what it tends to be,” said Ankrum. “And we just hope that they’ve discovered that old traditions can be new again. The number one priority is just to enjoy your time, enjoy some free gifts and have a good winter break after that.”