On Friday, April 10, the Hall of Presidents was transformed from the dreaded room of drop-add and self-scheduled final exams to a full-out nightclub, complete with hundreds of glow sticks, black lights and a DJ. The reason for this temporary renovation was to host the 2008-2009 Leadership Options for Tomorrow (LOFT) group’s charity event, “Lights, Camera, DANCE!”

LOFT is a residential-based group for first-years that focuses on building upon and embellishing previous leadership training. This living-learning community places a large emphasis on service and building a strong, positive community within the dorm and across campus. This program, run through The Center for Outreach Volunteerism and Education (COVE), urges students to take on leadership roles at Colgate and in the surrounding areas.

LOFT’s Lights, Camera, DANCE! was essentially one large dance party that served as both a fun Friday night activity and an opportunity to raise money for the Young Scholars Liberty Partnership Program. This Utica-based charity provides funds to over 300 middle and high school students in difficult social or economic environments to allow them to obtain a high school degree and hopefully continue on to higher levels of education.

Funded by Late Gate and the Broad Street Initiative, this event was a huge success. Free Slices, t-shirts, glasses and glow sticks were provided and a large screen behind the DJ with moving neon shapes added to the retro theme of the night. Not only did a wide variety of students come out to the event, but over $700 was raised for the Young Scholars program through the five-dollar admission ticket as well.

LOFT normally sponsors charity banquets, but decided to switch it up this past week.

“We looked at the list of events planned for this semester and saw that there was already at least one banquet for each weekend left,” first-year Terica Adams, a member of LOFT, said. “While many people do appreciate food, we though it would be great to have something different.”

The group within LOFT that planned the event worked specifically with CLSI, The Center for Leadership & Student Involvement, and wanted to plan an event that would be open to the entire campus.

As for which charity to donate the funds to, LOFT member and first-year Erin Nash explained, “We obtained a list of local charities from the COVE. From there, we talked about whichcharities would need the most funding, because many of the charities were already being given money from other groups on campus.”

All of the LOFT members in charge of the event deemed it a success.

“Yes, I believe our event was a success!” Nash said. “Because this was the first dance party hosted by LOFT, many people wereapprehensive about attending because they didn’t know what to expect. The Hall of Presidents looked wonderful after we decorated and the event began.”

Students across campus seemed to enjoy the event as well.

“I liked the musical selections and it was a really chill environment. It was nice to have an alternative to the typical Friday night activities,” first-year Lauren Frisch said.

Because the Hall of Presidents is such a large venue, however, the dancers were too spread out to get the complete nightclub vibe. In addition, LOFT members agreed that the planning process might have been improved by securing funding and starting advertising earlier.

Overall, “Lights, Camera, DANCE!” raised a lot of money, brought together students from across campus and provided a fun and unique Friday night for all involved.