Fall Ball rocked the Gantcher Center last Friday in what the TCU Senate is hoping will be a start of a new annual tradition.
This was the first year that the traditional Fall Fest concert and carnival was replaced with a semi-formal style dance featuring DJ Kid Capri.
Last year, because the Fall Fest's format was changed due to a lack of funding, it bore more of a resemblance to a carnival. The Senators were looking for a way to reinstate a memorable University-wide event while remaining on the tighter budget.
"Fall Ball will be a much more economical activity in being able to put on a better event for about a quarter the cost to students," explained TCU Treasurer Josh Belkin. Fall Fest used to cost the Senate an average of $35,000 every year, while Fall Ball 2003 cost only $8,500. The remaining $26,500 will then be used to subsidize the 135 TCU funded student organization budgets.
"The smaller Fall Fest was, largely, an unsuccessful endeavor. When it came time to discuss the issue of reinstating Fall Fest last year, the largely freshmen body had little reason to have faith in, or continue with, a tradition that they had never really experienced," senior and former senator Julia Karol said.
"We realized that only 50 percent of this year's student body knew of Fall Fest as a concert event so if we wanted to change the event's shape, this was the time to do so," says sophomore Jeffrey Katzin, the Senate Historian.
The decision was made not to hold the event on the quad but at the Gantcher Center, which is the only facility on campus that can hold the entire student body. Concerts are prohibited at Gantcher but according to TCU President Chike Aguh, he was "able to lobby effectively for use of the facility to the administration."
"The only reason concerts have not previously been held there is due to the lack of audio insulation of the venue," said Katzin. "However, we have taken measures to reduce the amount of sound leaking out of the building and have personally delivered letters to neighboring residents that are within a designated distance of the Gantcher Center."
The Senate decided to hold the function in this format due to the lack of a school-wide dance during the year. All of the decision making powers concerning the event lay in the hands of the TCU President.
"The exact form of Fall Ball was left up to the discretion of the President and it was left to the President to plan Fall Ball over the summer," said Aguh.
Aguh raised the extra funding needed for the event during his time on-campus all summer lobbying for various issues with administrators.
Aguh said that after the disappointment of the rain-related cancellation of Spring Fling last year, the Senate did not want any weather concerns interfering with Fall Ball.
Katzin also noted that with the crackdown on campus social life, there was need for another event. "With scrutiny coming down the pipeline regarding the Naked Quad Run and regarding Greek Life, it seemed like it was time to start a new tradition on campus which is what we hope to get out of Fall Ball -- an annual event that will be the main social function of the fall, much like Spring Fling is to the second semester," he said.
In previous years, performances by bands like Save Ferris, Deep Banana Blackout, and the Gza headlined Fall Fest. "After much debate, the Senate decided to cancel Fall Fest for a year to help with the budget problem," said Karol. "This was one of the many contentious debates that year."
According to Aguh, the dress code -- no jeans, no T-shirts, no sneakers -- was in place to differentiate this event from other parties that are held in Dewick and other facilities. The expected turnout for this event was 1500 to 2000 people.
Freshman Mackenzie Moffat found the Fall Ball "a great way to bring the community together. It was a really fun atmosphere." She also expressed a desire to have more events like this
The entire University was welcome, and the admission, drinks, and food were all free.
Before the event, the Senate conducted a poll on its web site which Tuftslife posted a link to for several weeks. Katzin says that the results showed that an overwhelming majority liked the idea of a Fall Ball as opposed to a concert, carnival, or other event.
"The administration liked the idea so much that a lot of the funding and manpower needed for the event has come from various offices across campus," he said.
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