By Hannah Stafford, News Editor
As the festivities of homecoming weekend fill the thoughts and schedules of students, one of the most common points of excitement is the annual dance. It will be held on Saturday, Oct. 8 from 9-10:50 p.m. in the Stuce, making it Asbury’s first homecoming dance to be held on campus.
“That is a privilege we have because of a new probationary period,” said junior Hannah Saxe, co-chair of the Special Events Committee.
The probationary period was instituted by Student Development as an avenue to possibly loosen Asbury’s current dance policy.
“The probationary period for dances is a period to help see if dancing on campus is the best for Asbury students and for flourishing the community well,” said Heather Tyner, assistant director of Student Leadership Development. “We’ve never had dances on campus before, and so in order to make changes happen well, it’s good to make sure you take adequate time and measures to do it thoroughly and with excellence rather than haphazardly.”
It is the hope of many students that this will lead to not only keeping the three “trial dances” — the Legacy Games 2016, Homecoming 2016 and the Legacy Games 2017 — on campus, but also instituting more dances in general.
“It’s more difficult to plan an event for all of campus with a low budget when you have to find a venue as well,” said Saxe. “We can go a little bit bigger now that it is on campus.”
The theme this year is “A Night in New York,” which has spurred excitement among students.
Sophomore Cameron Hendrix, who attended the homecoming dance last year, said, “I plan to attend again this year if I can. [The theme] sounds like it could be really nice.”
Sophomore Meredith Brumfield agreed. “I think it gets people excited and it’s definitely a theme, I think, a lot of people will enjoy,” she said.
For more information about the dance, students can contact Hannah Saxe, Ashley Eastwood or Lizzy Sherwood.