President’s Ball, an elegant tradition that Gustavus has carried on for decades, took place on Saturday, March 15, at the Verizon Wireless Centre in Mankato. About 600 students participated in the semi-formal event, which began with a social hour at 5 p.m., followed by a dinner and dance that lasted from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m.

The ball proved to be popular this year as the tickets sold out a week before the event, with about 20 people being put on the waiting list.

First-Year Lauren Schrader arrived at the ball a bit later than others, and had difficulty finding a seat.

“We got there a little bit late, and they didn’t have as many seats as they should have. But we found a table and sat down. The dinner was really good,” Shrader said.

First-Year Karena Baldwin spoke highly of her experiences at the ball. The affordable $20 cost provided her a rewarding and fun night.

“It’s definitely a step out from what I had in high school. So I’ve been enjoying that a lot especially the dinner. It’s such a reasonable price. If it was $100, I wouldn’t have come. But $20, definitely worth it,” Baldwin said.

Sophomore Alexa Peterson was one of the co-executives who was responsible for the President’s Ball this year. President’s Ball has historically been held in the Twin Cities until this year when, in an effort to make attendance more affordable, the event was moved to Mankato. Peterson believed that choosing Mankato as the location turned out to be a success.

“The choice to look at Mankato was mostly to think more cost effectively for students. The tickets were only 20 dollars this year instead of 30 when being up in the cities. We are just trying to switch up to see how the students like being closer to the home. At midnight sometimes you just want to come back and be done instead of driving from the Cities. So far we had a very positive result,” Peterson said.

Peterson also mentioned the inspiration for this year’s theme.

“We tried to introduce a different cultural aspect to it instead of just being a traditional P-ball,” Peterson said.

The dinner that Shrader and Baldwin commended enthusiastically was a result of the awareness of cultural diversity. The dishes included Lebanese style chicken Tawook, Top Sirloin, and vegetable ravioli. The variety of cheesecakes received great reviews as well.

The night featured another tradition, a swing dance performance demonstrated by the Gustavus Swing Club. One of the choreographers, Senior Grace Balfanz was very excited for the performance.

“It’s a tradition for the swing dance club to perform at the President’s Ball. It kind of shows what swing club is about, and it’s fun for the student body to see the performance,” Balfanz said.

The Photo Booth is another aspect that has been featured at the ball regularly. Many students were excited about the two photo booths, complete with props, that drew a very long lines.

Senior Emilie Elizabeth was one of the earliest to got the opportunity to have her photo taken. She explained how the machine works.

“We had a group of ten people. We fit in and they have different props like hats that you can put on. They’ll make a copy for every person that’s in the photo,” Elizabeth said.

As one of the organizers of President’s Ball, Peterson is satisfied with the event’s success and hopes to see similar success in the future.

“It seemed as though everyone really enjoyed themselves,” Peterson said.