The first festive dance in over ten years at Loyola did not go as well as anticipated. The 2023 Loyola Winter Formal was an unfortunate sight to behold. A staggeringly small number of students milled around the gym, which was far from the dance that was expected.
When entering the building, an empty ticket booth and an even emptier gym awaited your arrival. There was a faint sound of music coming from the gym, and if you listened ever so carefully you might have heard the voices of the few who actually attended.
In early November, rumor went around that a winter dance was soon to take place. Feedback from the students seemed to guarantee a full house the night of the dance, so preparations were made to host.
The demand for the dance misled the student council to believe that there would be a large number of eager students attending the event. With rumors about the dismal even spreading, many students chose not to attend.
In an attempt to build popularity, the dance offered spike ball, bags, and held a prom ticket raffle which catered to the majority of the attendees who were seniors.
The results regarding the raffle were unknown at the time of this writing.
Even so, the event seemed to be barren, with most of the attendees playing games or eating by the East Gym.
Despite the absence of students, the efforts of staff and student council members did not go to waste as some seniors still attended, enjoying the photos and music.
Because of this shortcoming, Loyola will not host any event similar to this in the foreseeable future. This is for the best, seeing as future dances such as these may not due to the busyness of the season.
If Loyola ever decides to host another, their best bet would be to keep the games, keep the food, and do a better job at advertising the dance. The only signs of life were those enjoying themselves playing the games and listening to music as they played.
Overall, the attempt at introducing a new event was admirable, but fell short on multiple instances that hindered the capabilities of hosting such an event.
Much credit goes to Loyola, but the probability of this happening in the future is slim.
