By Lindsay Haislip
News Editor
One of Washington College’s most exciting and memorable traditions, Birthday Ball, is well in the works for 2011. The event, planned for Saturday, Feb. 26, will be “classy but fun”, said Director of Student Activities Emmanuel Lalande.
“When I came here,” Lalande said, “I listened to faculty, staff and students, and they all had their own opinions on how Birthday Ball should go, so naturally as a person that’s new, you want to try to appease all stake holders when it come to Birthday Ball.”
South of the Border, Alice in Wonderland Through the Looking Glass, A Night in Venice, and Empires Through the Ages were the four themes that were examined. “These themes came up”, said Lalande, “about a month ago. I sent a survey out to faculty, staff, and students, as well as alums of the college. The committee, which is comprised of an SGA member, and a SEB member, and myself, narrowed it down to those four themes,” he said. “Honestly, the votes were very close for the theme, so I know there may be some students, faculty, and staff that are not pleased with the theme that was chosen, but we tried our best, and I was not surprised. It’s a great theme, and it’s really going to come to life,” said Lalande.
Co-Director of Birthday Ball, junior Katie Johnson, said, “For the longest time, this was the event for Washington College where all the alums come back, and all the students, faculty, and administrators can get together and have a good time. It celebrates George Washington’s birthday; he’s kind of a big deal around here.”
Lalande and the directors are working hard to make this the most memorable event yet. They have some changes that they have planned thus far. “Some students, faculty, and staff wanted a DJ, and some wanted a band, so to accommodate both aspects there will be a band and a DJ. From 8 to 10 p.m. there will be a band, and then for the rest of the time there will be a DJ,” said Lalande.
Another key change will be extending the hours of the dance to better accommodate students. “A lot of students come late to the event,” said Lalande, “maybe 10:30 or 11 p.m., but the event ends at 12 a.m. We’re going to extend the hours a little bit.”
“We extended the dance by a half an hour,” said Johnson.
“Another tweak,” Lalande said, “is that I wanted to bring back the faculty and staff. A lot of faculty and staff felt disengaged when it came to Birthday Ball.” Lalande stressed that he is inviting all faculty and staff to the event. “I don’t know what happened in the past, but give me the opportunity to make it right,” he said. “They have to understand that I’m trying to please both faculty and students.”
“One thing I’m doing,” Lalande said, “is from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., since a lot of students don’t come then anyway, it’s going to be exclusive to just faculty and staff. It will be a cocktail hour just for faculty and staff.” There will be a band during that time “because a lot of faculty and staff members wanted a band more than a DJ,” said Lalande.
Co-Director of Birthday Ball, Michelle Firmin said, “We’re also going to change around the breakfast in Hodson afterwards so that we take care of the lines. We’re just trying to make sure people aren’t out in the cold waiting, or waiting in general. There’s always a rush; when Birthday Ball ends, everyone comes,” she said.
According to Lalande, there may even be some surprise guests at the event.
An additional change will be with the layout of the event space, according to Johnson. “We changed the layout for the space. We’ll have a bigger area for dancing, but a slightly smaller bar area. Most people are out there on the floor, though, so I think it’ll be a great success.
The theme will not be revealed until Comedy Week, which is November 15th-19th, so not much can be said yet, but as far as having more decorations, “that’s the hope,” said Johnson. “In years previously we were using R & R event planning, and we’re going to try and eliminate R & R as the middle man, and just get contracts with individual decorating companies and lighting companies themselves, and so hopefully that will cut cost enough to allow us to use more decorations in the design,” she said.
“We have quite a few surprises in store,” said Firmin.
Johnson said, “I think this year it’s going to be absolutely fantastic: what we do, what we pull off, and it’s going to be a really enjoyable event for everyone.”
“You don’t want to miss it”, said Lalande. “It will be a great event.” “[The Directors] are all excited, and ready to show what they got. I’m ready to show what I have. I’m really excited. This is one of my highlights coming in, so it’s going to be good,” he said.