The Last Dance (Finally!)
Photo by John Boyer
Two years ago, around this time, prom season was slowly coming in the air in high school. I was two months out from my senior prom, and my friends and I were planning on the perfect last hoorah. We were slowly checking off all the boxes: getting suits and dresses, asking out our future dates, and—of course—campaigning relentlessly to FINALLY be prom king or queen. I even joked around and called it “The Last Dance” like the Chicago Bulls documentary, just for the dramatic effect. It was the last ride; it was going to be the most memorable night of our lives.
And, well, we know what happened afterward…
It’s been two years, and just like that, that senior class is three fourths done with their second year of college. The whole night of our lives? The last dance? Derailed by our good friend, COVID-19. That’s not even to mention the junior class from that year, who never got to even experience it. “So yeah, that sucks,” you might be saying to me right now. “Why did you have to bring it up and bum me out today, man?” Well, we’re finally getting that last dance.
I first learned about us potentially doing a formal all the way back in the Summer of 2021, while working alongside SGA President Jonathan Okereke. “Well, Haley Bordelon gave me the idea last year around the middle of our Spring semester!” Okereke said, explaining the origins of the idea. “She was telling me how a lot of freshmen girls had dresses that they never got to wear to their high school proms because of COVID and that it would be really cool to throw a huge event like a Mardi Gras Ball or something similar to make up for that.”
“I’ll be honest; at first, I wasn’t really sold on the idea,” he said. This would be the first school-wide formal, at least in a very long time. “But she was really passionate about it—she pushed me to realize that it would be such a unique experience for campus. That, when coupled with the knowledge that most students don’t get to experience having a Formal at Centenary (unless they’re a part of or involved with Greek Life), eventually pushed me over the edge, and caused me to incorporate it into my list of campaign promises for my Presidential bid.”
However, our good friend, COVID, once again had reared its ugly head. With the Omicron variant running rampant in early 2022, the original Mardi Gras Ball had to be pushed back to March, leaving us without a venue with so little time left. Luckily, we had a dream team on the SGA Campus Engagement Committee—shout out to senators Jo Bennet, Sierra Charles, Emma Greer, Andrea Kay, Emily Moreno, and VP Emily Sander—working around the clock to find everything needed for the Ball. Along with help from others—another shoutout to Momma Hawkins—the ball was able to be planned in the nick of time. After much deliberation, Silver Lake Ballroom was chosen as the venue for the event with a convenient location right down the street from campus, and transportation offered as well.
Photo by Caymen Hawkins
“We weren’t exactly able to host a Mardi Gras Ball due to some complications in scheduling, but we’ve got something even better now: The Bell Tower Ball!” Okereke said. The name was officially announced at February’s SGA Mixer.
Okereke concluded, “So, be sure to shout out Haley when you see her! Her idea (and anyone else’s on this campus) are things that the SGA take seriously and try to bring to life!”
The date for the Bell Tower Ball is officially set for March 26th from 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. at the Silver Lake Ballroom in downtown Shreveport. Students can find their formal invitations in their mailbox. With everything in place, March 26th will surely be the perfect last dance…and maybe even actually the first of many dances to come.
