What started as a simple dance to promote refraining from pulling fire alarms has evolved into one of the Residence Hall Association’s most popular events.
The annual Fire & Ice Dance, which features a Valentine’s Day-themed dinner and ice-skating, has grown to be almost as large as the annual Hall Wars. But unlike Hall Wars, the event has the advantage of reaching out to off-campus students.
“We invest quite a bit into making this event a reason people come out and show support of RHA,” said Nathanael Simson, RHA activities director. “It’s one of the ways we can get our name out there to off-campus students, and hopefully promote them to moving back on campus.”
The festivities kick off today at Woodworth Commons with the Fire & Ice Valentine’s Dinner. Starting at 5 p.m., a special menu will be served, including all-you-can-eat steak and shrimp and a s’mores bar. The cost is one meal swipe, or $9.95 plus tax. Free T-shirts and totes provided by Kraft and A-1 brands will be available while supplies last.
Immediately after the dinner, RHA is sponsoring “Break the Ice: Speed Friending” at 7 p.m., which allows students to talk “with residents or students that they wouldn’t normally have conversations with,” Simson said.
The celebration continues Friday evening with a dance in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center Ballroom. However, there will be more than just a disc jockey to help attendees dance the night away.
RHA is sponsoring a costume contest with three prize-winning categories: fire, ice and pairs. To commemorate the event, a photo booth will be set up. For the second time, RHA will have an ice rink.
“Dances are kind of a hit or miss on campus,” Simson said. It’s sometimes difficult to motivate students to make the trek to the event, he said. The goal is to keep the event dance-centered but expand the options “so people can say there’s something there that I can do that I can’t really do anywhere else.”
“The ice rink is something that doesn’t happen at BSU,” said David Galitsky, a senior computer science major. He plans on going to both events, but is most interested in seeing people’s creativity for the costume contest.
The Fire & Ice Dance is free to both on- and off-campus students. It is from 8-11 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom.
