I think it was cool getting together and dancing to music and just being silly and there was food—I liked all that stuff,” junior Derek Burton said of his time at the Second Chance prom hosted by the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
The event was hosted Thursday, Oct. 20 from 8 to 11 p.m. in the Susquehanna room as a fun way for students, especially those who had bad experiences with prom in high school, to get together and have fun in a safe space.
Stephanie Collins, Interim Coordinator of Multicultural Programming and Residential Communities, took the lead on planning and carrying out this event. She also asked her wife to be her date for the dance.”I heard about the idea about Second Chance prom from a colleague of mine who heard about it existing at Westchester,” Collins said.
She talked to students last semester, and they expressed interest in wanting the event to happen on Etown’s campus.
“At most colleges, Second Chance prom is very specifically marketed to the LGBT community on campus because a lot of students weren’t able to take the date they wanted or wear what they wanted to prom,” Collins stated.
Collins expressed that she was concerned that by only marketing the event toward the LGBT community, there would be a possibility of sacrificing the larger sense of Etown community. The event was marketed toward all Etown students with the SafeZone logo that shows LGBT students that the event or space is a safe area for them.
In Collins’ opinion, this event provided an opportunity to show that Etown is stronger together than separate in any one identity. It offered an outlet for students within the LGBT community who may or may not be involved within diversity groups on campus and who may or may have come out at this time to come together and have fun in a safe space.
Sophomore Fatima Janneh, was only able to attend the event for a short period of time but said she enjoyed her experience and thought the event was a good idea.
“I just thought it was really interesting and really cool that they were doing this for people who couldn’t go to prom or had a horrible time at prom,” Janneh said.
Janneh’s prom was, in her own words, “okay.” She said she was not dating anyone at the time, so she did not have to deal with any controversy related to that, but she said Second Chance prom offered a moment to just hang out with friends and relax, something college students do not always have the time to do.
Pictures from the event can be found on the Mosaic House’s instagram, their account name is etownmosaichouse.
