PRISM ‘prom’ night was a success

The old memory of twinkling lights, elegant gowns and a spinning disco ball were not just a memory for some students this weekend but rather the past relived.

This past Satursay Oct. 31 PRISM hosted the “prom” in Great Hall from 8 to 11 pm. The event, which was open to all UMW students, featured lavish decorations such as Christmas lights, disco balls, and star decorations with the color scheme purple, black, and gold.

It even had a theme; A Night to Remember. This event was planned entirely by PRISM and took a lot of effort and planning as the finale to the two-week “Who’s in the Soup” theme hosted by PRISM.

“We started planning for prom at our first board meeting for PRISM which was over the summer, then officially we starting at the beginning of this semester,” said sophomore Becca Zoller, who was in charge of planning the prom along with fellow PRISM member, junior Caroline Ebrill.

The idea was first a fleeting mention but then transformed into the event itself. Most people liked the idea of having a big dance and dressing up. The prom idea also provided an opportunity for students to have a better prom experience than they did in high school.

“Prom was sort of our big idea because we really wanted to provide an opportunity for members of the LGBTQQIAAP to redo their prom experiences because many people’s proms were negatively affected by events surrounding their sexualities and gender identities,” said Zoller.

The PRISM prom first started to be publicized by members of PRISM during the “Who’s in the Soup” weeks, after numerous planning.

“We had been tabling outside the Nest for two and a half weeks selling tickets and giving information,” said sophomore Nancy Belle, a PRISM member who attended the prom.

Despite the advance planning, there were still obstacles that surfaced during the planning process, such as no funding. The only solution was to take money out of PRISM’s budget to finance the event. The money that was made by ticket sales, which cost $2 each, will be saved for t-shirts during the annual Day of Silence in the spring, which is PRISM’s next main event after from the upcoming Drag Show.

This was the first prom PRISM has hosted, and the turnout was 120 students. The success has prompted PRISM to consider hosting another prom.

“I had numerous people ask me if it was going to be an annual event as well as people who wanted to be more involved in planning it. I think that it went well and feedback was very positive,” said Ebrill.
Some students didn’t just enjoy the prom, but felt it was better than their high school prom, which was the goal of PRISM. Since the prom was so well received, PRISM is underway with hosting the prom again for next year.

“Although the planning of the event was stressful, post-prom we feel very positively about planning another one, a better one, for next year. We were so pleased with this year’s turn out, seeing as it was our first attempt at a prom, and really hope to make it bigger and better next year,” said Zoller.