What could be more fun than dressing up in the tackiest apparel Good Will has to offer and dancing the stresses of school and thoughts of looming exams away with over 200 fellow Mines students? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Tacky Prom, put on by the Maple and Aspen Halls Residence Life staff in the Maple Hall community room, gave residents the chance to shuffle, twerk and practice their mad dance skills all while winning incredible prizes. The prizes, like the dance itself, were incredibly tacky and even included snuggle animals for those struggling with the notorious Mines ratio to snuggle.
The dance also served as a fundraiser for Socktober, a program devised by Kid President in which people get together and donate clothing and basic necessities to the homeless in their communities. Attendees were asked to make a donation in exchange for admission to the dance.
Residents turned up with handfuls of donations and turned up dressed in everything from brown corduroy overalls to Christmas sweaters and 50 shades of plaid. A handful of Mines men embraced their manhood and donned the tackiest dresses they could borrow.
“My favorite part was feeling like I was in middle school again,” Emma Elefante, freshman, said. “The cheesy nobody caring and crazy dance moves and jumping around was awesome.”
Maple Hall’s resident assistants served as DJs and bartenders, mixing songs and drinks for residents. Songs ranged from “Gangnam Style” to “What Does the Fox Say” with the occasional appearance of the traditional (and tacky) line dance songs that pervaded middle school dances. As for the mocktails, well, nobody really knows what were in those. “I had a few interesting combinations,” Amber Brusak, freshman, said. “I was a little scared when I saw them being poured, but the ended up being okay.”
And what prom would be complete without crowning the two luckiest and tackiest attendees queen and king? Tacky Prom King Nick Pampe and Tacky Prom Queen Matt Groce shared a dance after being crowned with the classiest of craft project crowns.
“So many people showed up wearing dorky clothes. It was fun to see people cut loose,” Brusak said. “It was more of a community feel for Maple, which was really cool.”
