The Legacy Games dance, usually one of Asbury’s on-campus dances that takes place during the Legacy Games competition, is being replaced. The Sadie Hawkins dance will be Feb. 8, and, in classic Hawkins form, female students have the chance to ask their male friends for an evening of dancing and getting to know each other.
“When we were creating the schedule, I threw out the idea of a Sadie Hawkins dance,” said Student Body President Maggie Richwine. “We are allowed two dances on campus, and two dances off campus. We always used those on-campus opportunities for Homecoming and Legacy Games. When I served on the SAB as the ‘party planner,’ I learned that Legacy Games was a bust, always. We are using one of our most prized events on something people do not enjoy.”
The idea began circulating as early as April 2019 and soon became a popular subject in the Asbury “Twitterverse,” with female students even creating applications for potential dates to complete.
“I kind of like that,” Richwine said. “I think Asbury dating culture is kind of interesting; I don’t know how healthy it is. I think Sadie Hawkins might give people an outlet, like, if you’re a girl and you like a guy you could definitely ask him to this dance…dating at Asbury is such a high-profile thing when it does not have to be. This kind of releases the tension.”
Richwine, however, is clear about her reservations concerning the event.
“What I don’t want to happen is it become another running joke that influences the toxicity of Asbury dating culture,” said Richwine.
The women of Asbury’s campus now have a campus-wide opportunity to “shoot their shot;” however, some women, like junior Annie Pan, do not think they’ll participate in the event.
“Personally, I’m not going,” Pan said. “I’ve gotten less extroverted during my college years, and I just don’t want to ask a guy to Sadie Hawkins. I don’t need to. I do think it’s a good opportunity for some girls on campus if they’ve been scared or nervous about asking a guy.”
Senior Sarah Nesselroade added that she does not think that Sadie Hawkins will immediately change any aspect of dating culture at Asbury.
“I think it would be hard to discern the idea of just flipping the switch, like having girls ask guys out, is going to change the fact that sometimes our culture here sees a casual date as something serious,” Nesselroade said. “I think Sadie Hawkins has the potential of changing that, but we won’t know until we try it.”
The Sadie Hawkins dance will be held in the Student Center from 7-9 p.m. Attire is informal and 80’s themed.