Current Release: September 11th, 2007 | Vol. XXIV Iss. 10

Photo by Colleen Peterson

Toga and tie time at the black and white formal

By Andrew Craft

They say good things come in threes. Well, one good thing came from three. Iota Beta, Youth Matters and Black Student Union presented the First Annual Black Toga and Tie Formal last Friday. Complete with cold cuts on croissants, Oreos, cake, fruit, tortillas and salsa and soda, the event was also Iota Beta’s formal. The event brought in about $400.

“I’d give it an A,” said Marcus Calabrese, president of Iota Beta. “We had about 75 people, which was pretty good for our first one on a Friday night without having alcohol.”

The event was originally going to be an all white formal.

“We wanted to do that, but it was going to be too expensive,” said Calabrese. “Takeyra Talbot jokingly suggested that we do a toga/tie thing. I thought, ‘well everyone usually has something either black or white, so why not.’ Even though togas are kinda stereotypical, it gave people a choice as what to wear.”

Calabrese was one of the organizers walking through the crowd to make sure things went off without too many problems.

“All of us working didn’t have to work so hard, but since this was the first one, we wanted things to go smoothly,” said Calabrese.

While munching on a roast beef croissant, Calabrese asked me if I would be a judge for the fashion show. How could I refuse?

The three other judges and I were to judge six girls and one guy on creativity, theme and personality. Ina Solms and Christian Pena were the judges’ picks, while Tiffany Turner won the votes from the audience. Each winner received a $25 gift certificate.

The longer the night went on, the more people danced to Chef/DJ Leon’s musical selection, as he was taking requests.

Those who showed up to the formal expressed their enthusiasm.

“I thought it was a great event, especially for it being the first time,” said junior and Phi Sigma Sigma member Shannon Evans, “they did an excellent job planning it.”

Apparently what Evans referred to as “the ghost of Boyd” didn’t like some of the decorations as a flower vase randomly crashed to the floor and caught everyone’s attention. The ghost was unavailable for comment.

“I enjoyed the fashion show, but I didn’t see how it fit into the rest of the dance,” said Evans. Evans was dressed in a black wig, gold jewelry; a Cleopatra motif.

“My first idea was to wear black and white and be jailbait,” she joked, “I hope they do this again next year. I might do a cow print or a Dalmatian.”