May 7 marked the night of the annual Boxer Ball, which was presented by Resident and Housing Association and has been a tradition for over a decade.
With a semi-formal dress code and the theme of “A Night Out at Sea,” the multipurpose room on the lower level of the University Center was transformed into a dance floor complete with a DJ and multicolored dance lights.
Boxer Ball began at 9 p.m. and lasted until well past 1 a.m.
The main coordinator behind Boxer Ball was Kate Schiewe, the current RHA events coordinator and next year’s RHA president.
According to Schiewe, “RHA worked very hard on Boxer Ball this year, and considers it a success. Students enjoyed the evening and we had record amounts of people who showed up. Boxer Ball is always an exciting event, because it is the last RHA event of the year. This year we decide to move it down to the MPR, focused on things like decorations, and lights to make it a night to remember.”
In addition to music and a dance floor, there was a professional photographer available to take photos. Cake and kegs of root beer were provided free of charge to students.
While students enjoyed the event, there was an incident that put an end to the festivities.
During the dance, a student got a hold of a fire extinguisher and proceeded to spray it on the dance floor.
Another student, who was caught in the middle of the dance floor received a full-on blast with the fire extinguisher after she saw the student holding the extinguisher and unintentionally made eye contact with them.
“It was like the people on the dance floor were walking in flour,” said another Boxer Ball attendee, Michelle Monk. “I didn’t realize what had happened until I smelled it. It smelled sour and left a bad taste in my mouth.”
After being told to evacuate the MPR, the students either returned to their dorms or stood outside and watched as CPS and the police tried to figure out what happened.
No one was harmed at the event, but RHA sent out an email the next day assuring students that the chemicals sprayed at the dance were non-toxic. The email did, however, advise students to shower the chemicals off of their skin.
Despite the disruption at the end, the event served as the university’s last dance of the year and was RHA’s way of saying “anchors away!” to the 2010-2011 school year.
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