Jorge Macias and Sarah Larson pose in their Roaring ’20s inspired garb in the library inside the mansion. Courtesy: Communiversity
In the form of a glamorous mansion party, Communiversity held the second annual Guys Invite Girls dance Friday, Feb. 21. The dance was held at the Orange County Mansion and was inspired by the Roaring ’20s and “The Great Gatsby.”
Immediately after seeing “The Great Gatsby” in theaters last summer, senior communication studies major Joy Knepper said she wanted to model the GIG theme after the movie. Knepper, who is the Campus Life intern in the Office of Communiversity, said she wanted it to be more formal than other dances, giving women on campus an opportunity to wear floor-length dresses.
Many men on campus use GIG as an opportunity to ask their dates in unique ways.
Junior business administration major Micah Kwok and his roommates performed a trio doo wop song to ask senior Karissa Burgos to go to the dance. Kwok also said this was one of the better dances he had been to and was impressed with the Orange County Mansion.
“I thought the venue was awesome,” Kwok said. “I had a lot of fun, just the ambiance of it. I really enjoyed it with the s’mores and the bonfire, with the pool and all the open seating. It blended having the indoor [and] outdoor setting available for people who wanted to talk or to dance.”
Although the dance is called GIG, many students who went did not go with traditional dates. Freshman psychology major Jordan Tuttle went to the dance with a group of seven other freshmen girls.
“I think it’s a lot more fun and less pressure to go in a group of girls because while everyone else is scrambling around to try to find a date, you just find a group of girls who want to go and dance with them,” Tuttle said.
According to Tuttle, parking for the event was off-site. Guests parked at a local community college and were shuttled in vans from the reserved parking area across the street to the party.
Tickets were $20 per person, but Communiversity also gave out a free ticket Friday, Feb. 14 before the dance. The office holds occasional “Fun Friday” events on Cougar Walk, and this one included competitive games to win a free ticket, said Knepper.
During one point of the night, Knepper and the other interns, junior communication studies major Tayler Lund and senior business marketing major Tim Youngdale, who planned the event stood on a balcony to look down at the dance they had planned from the ground up. Knepper said she was very happy with how the event turned out and of all the positive feedback she received.
With over 750 people in attendance and tickets selling out completely at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 19, Knepper attributes some of the night’s success to having the event two years in a row. According to Knepper, this year’s Campus Life team built upon last year’s concept. Now that students are more knowledgable with the concept of a guys ask girls dance, more people were willing to attend, Knepper said.