Glowcoming, this year’s themed homecoming dance, took place Friday night, Oct. 17 in the University Village parking garage. The tradition, dating back about 20 years, provides a time and place for fellow Cougars to come together through music and dancing in celebration of the return of APU’s football team and the midpoint of the semester.
Students dressed in a variety of neon colors, mixing, matching and accessorizing with different-colored glow sticks and black light attire. The glow sticks lit up the primarily dark room, lit only by black lights and subtle LED lighting near the stage platforms.
Students are greeted by Communiversity staff as they enter the glow-tunnel. Photo credit: Megan Ramirez
“The theme was chosen because we wanted a bright, electrifying atmosphere,” said Tayler Lund, senior communication studies major and campus life intern. “It also keeps with the traditional ‘Homecoming’ name.”
In years past, the event has been held in the East Campus Munson Courtyard, but with accommodations being tight and time limited, Communiversity made the move to host the homecoming dance in the largest parking structure located in University Village.
For the first time in the history of homecoming dances, the Office of Communiversity also put a cap on attendance. Only APU students were allowed to attend, per the norm, but participation was cut off at 1,200. Although tickets were available for purchase at the door, the event was sold out before it even began.
“I remember going to one of the dances in Munson my freshman year,” said Megan Gohr, senior psychology major. “It was really crowded, and there was a lot of pushing and shoving. I think the location they chose this year was a good call, and limiting the amount of people that are allowed in helps, too. The extra space gives people the freedom to actually dance and also to take a breath when they need to.”
As students entered through a glow tunnel, they were greeted by several of the event staff with excitement and glow sticks. Once inside, everything was strategically sectioned off; the dance floor and disk jockey booth centered, a Rockstar stand providing free energy drinks and a photo booth located in the back. On the far right wall facing the DJ, the “Glowcoming” logo was featured by hologram, available as a backdrop for students to take photos.
Students enjoy dancing, lights, and glowsticks at Glowcoming. Photo credit: Megan Ramirez
After a tremendous amount of planning, which began in the summer, the Office of Communiversity staff secured the location, collaborated with performers and worked with vendors to get supplies. They proceeded to carry out a very elaborate and strategic schedule for the evening itself.
“It takes a lot of people to pull off an event like this,” Lund said. “There are four of us who plan it, but then we have a team of 12 freshman called the Campus Life Crew who are integral in the planning and execution of this dance. On the day of, we also had about 10 others from the Office of Communiversity who help us set up for the dance as well. It definitely takes a team effort to pull off an event of this size.”
As the doors opened and each activity and performance unfolded, the crowd responded loudly and enthusiastically, and the staffers who pulled it all together were pleased and thrilled with the response and overall turnout.
“For me, I most enjoyed seeing my interns faces right when everyone got here,” said Audrey Hale, Communiversity graduate assistant. “They were like, ‘It’s about to happen! It’s gonna go down!’ So, just the excitement that I saw on their faces was the best part of the night.”
Students were let in at 9 p.m., and at 10:15 p.m. the Office of Communiversity staff pumped up the crowd by throwing out glow-in-the-dark beach balls and glow sticks. Once everyone was sufficiently “glowing,” a surprise performance by VFO took place in the center of the dance floor at 10:30 P.M.
At 30-minute intervals, 11:00 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., the crowd was doused by glow-water squirt guns. The dance wrapped up by midnight.
“All of the things we wanted to happen actually happened, and it was fun seeing people respond the way we wanted them to,” Lund said.
The next dance to look forward to, Les Femmes, takes place every year in the fall and is a girl-ask-guy formal event. Themes and details have yet to be announced, but no doubt the planning is already underway.