Kylie Martin, Staff Writer - Student Life
Students at the Homecoming Dance Fall 2022. Photo//Kylie Martin
Around 200 students danced the night away at this year’s Homecoming dance in the University Center’s Kochoff Hall Thursday evening.
The dance, hosted by Student Activities Board, featured a “Y2K” theme - a term short for “the year 2000” to encompass the aesthetic inspired by fashion and technology at the turn of the century. While a good half of the attendees donned elegant dresses and suited jackets, the other half dressed for the Y2K theme in outfits resembling 1999 fashion magazines.
Kochoff Hall was also decorated to fit the Y2K theme, with balloons dotting the ground, hot pink tinsel curtains sparkling on the walls, and rainbow strobe lights darting through the crowds and across the ceiling. In addition, several round dinner tables, each adorned with a bouquet of colored roses, circled the dance floor, where students bounced and bopped to the tunes of the past 20 years, played by a live DJ.
While some students socialized with their friends, helped themselves to the complimentary pasta dinner, and simply enjoyed the night's energy, others truly got into a groove on the dance floor. Two sophomores, Joshua Shelley and Gayathri Chava captured everyone’s attention as they spun and stomped together in the center of the dance floor. As they finished their routine, they waved for others to join them, and the party of dancers instantly grew.
Their dance session eventually mellowed down. The duo then split, and the two dancers commented on their shared moment in the spotlight.
“I do some dancing on my own, both contemporary and freestyle dance, so I was invited by the Student Activities Board to come ‘hype’ people up,” Shelley said.
“I’m an E-Board member for the Student Activities Board, so I thought I’d help out and try to get more people dancing and more hyped,” said Chava. “I think it worked, there’s a lot more people dancing than before!”
In addition to giving students a night to let loose and have fun, events like the Homecoming dance and even last year’s Winter Wonderland Ball also allow international students to experience some typical American traditions.
“We came to [the Homecoming dance] to explore the events, since we’ve never been to a dance like this before, and just to see what all UM-Dearborn has to offer,” said a small group of international students that are new to the university. “And it’s all been really great so far!”