On Saturday, March 15, at 7 p.m., Union University’s Student Government Association (SGA) Junior Class Council transformed the New Southern Hotel with pearls, gold and other Great Gatsby-esque décor for this year’s 1920s-themed Cardinal Ball—an annual student-organized dance that is open to the entire student body.
It did not matter which part of campus students were involved in; everyone could come and capture memories with friends at the photo booths, fill up on fruit platters and Texas Roadhouse rolls, challenge their friends to Jenga in the game room or bust some moves on the dance floor.
“I like dancing. I am not super great at it, but that is kind of the point. That is part of the appeal of events like this,” Jenny Link, a senior social work major, said. “It is very much like, ‘If you are a bad dancer, come on; if you are a good dancer, come on.’”
Cardinal Ball was a low-stress, low-expectation event.
“It was everything that I loved about prom and nothing that I didn’t because everyone was just like, ‘We are just here to have a fun time. We really don’t care who goes with who,’” Link said. “It was just very simple, but still provided the same opportunity that prom does of ‘Come get dressed up and have a fun night out with some friends.’”
This was exactly what the SGA Junior Class Council was hoping to achieve with this year’s Cardinal Ball.
“Our main focus was to be able to create a space for people to come and really have fun, whether they’re part of Greek life, not a part of Greek life, in organizations, not in organizations,” Abby Dawson, junior accounting major and SGA’s Junior Class President, said. “We just wanted to be able to have a space where people can come, have fun, dance, all the things like that.”
Whether it was a student’s first or fifth dance this semester, Cardinal Ball was a chance for all students to enjoy a fun night off campus.
“I’m in Greek life, so I get to do all the formals and the semis,” Dawson said. “But [Cardinal Ball] is just that space to be a Union student first and foremost and be able to come no matter what you’re involved in. It’s a very sweet time to be able to just be a Union student for a little while and not get caught up in the letters that you wear but the university that you get to be a part of.”
