The long-established Spring Fling is back with a new name and with plans to continue the tradition.
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By Ilenia Reale / Matthew staff || Edited by Alexandra Nava-Baltimore
After three years of COVID-19 regulations, the wait is over. Student Government (SG) reinstates the longstanding JCU ball, known as Spring Fling, but with a new name: the Student Government Spring Ball.
“We want to encourage the sense of community,” said SG President Courtney Smith. “Students lost this feeling; they want to feel proud of JCU.”
SG Chief of Staff Lynch Ainsley Sariola, who is leading the planning of the ball alongside Vice-President Carlos Santander, said that in recognition of JCU’s 50th anniversary, SG wanted to start the tradition of a SG Spring Ball for future cabinets to continue. Currently, SG is developing a five-year plan to foster the tradition.
For this year’s ball, SG allocated 80 percent of its budget. The 50th Anniversary Committee also contributed by covering 30 percent of the total expenses.
The ball will take place on Friday, April 14 at the Radisson Blue GHR Hotel starting with dinner at 7 p.m. followed by dancing. This year’s theme is masquerade, which will require formal attire complemented by a mask.
Tickets were on sale online from March 20 to March 23 at a cost of 30 euros per person and 50 euros per couple. Limited capacity is 200 seats for students only.
Smith said location planning for this year’s ball had to do with finding the best option for students in terms of ticket price, food quality, dancing space, and other details, so they opted for the Radisson even if it does not have an ideal capacity.
To end the night, SG is considering a student nomination and voting for a “best couple” of the ball, but more details will be revealed sooner to the event. SG plans to circulate a form before the ball for participants to nominate the best couple and vote on the day of the event.
Smith said the cabinet started researching how to plan the ball last semester by looking at physical archives and emails from 2019 and older to learn more about how the ball was organized by previous cabinets.
Federica Bocco, JCU alumna and now Student Activities Coordinator, attended the last Spring Fling in 2019 before COVID-19 hit and said she is glad it is coming back.
“Everybody would look forward to the chance to spend an evening all together at a fancy external location and not have to worry about homework or exams,” said Bocco.
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