By Amy Rudolph
Elm Staff Writer
Every year, alumni and friends of Washington College flock back for a night of fun. Birthday Ball is a celebration of the birth of the College’s namesake, George Washington. A time-honored tradition for decades, it brings the WC community together. But as with most everything, traditions change.
This year, Student Events Board (SEB) introduced an easier way for students, faculty, and staff to gain access to the event. In 2016, WC-affiliated guests had to reserve their tickets ahead of time via Eventbrite, and if they did not, they would have to pay $50 at the door. This practice led to many forgetful students having to buy tickets in order to gain entrance. With the new system, students, faculty, and staff only need to show their ID at the door, according to the Birthday Ball webpage on the College’s site.
Caitlyn Kirby, director of Annual Events for SEB, is the head of the Birthday Ball planning committee and discussed these changes.
“The ticket and check in process will be a lot easier this year with just using Check I’m Here and not Eventbrite,” she said.
Guests and friends of the College still need to reserve tickets ahead of time, but the price is discounted from last year.
In recent years, Birthday Ball fashion has begun to mirror that of Homecoming. When announcing Birthday Ball’s Old Hollywood theme this year, the administration and organizers encouraged guests to wear formal attire, such as a long gown as opposed to the short dresses that are more commonly seen at other dances.
“We are trying to class up Birthday Ball by turning it back into a gala like it once was,” Kirby said.
Another change affects the donors rather than the students. Kirby said, “The 1782 room will not be there this year. SEB was not involved in this decision.”
There will still be a 21+ area of the dance, according to SEB’s Birthday Ball page on washcoll.edu.
Kirby said, “We would just like to emphasize that this is an upscale event and the whole community will be together this year to celebrate George Washington’s birthday.”
Gerald Roderick, director of Public Safety, said, “SafeRide is not running Saturday night…vans are secured for transportation for Birthday Ball.”
Public Safety is set up to take calls to dispatch shuttles during the event. There will also be approximately 18 additional special event staff on the night of Birthday Ball, said Roderick.
“You often hear people talk about the negatives of Birthday Ball, the reality is that Birthday Ball is a fantastic event for our student body.” In the cases where people, “overdo it…there will be EMTs on hand…to provide quick service,” he said.
With these changes comes an added layer of protection so that students and guests do not “crash and burn,” according to Roderick.