What better place than a dance party to mix, match and mingle? On Saturday, March 26, the “first ever dance party to celebrate Colgate’s diversity” took place in the Hall of Presidents from 9 p.m. to midnight, and invited Colgate students to “mix it up!”

The idea for a party celebrating Colgate’s diversity in such a colorful fashion came from two seniors, Ashley Lazevnick and Doneisha Snider.

“After discussing the CCLS over hot cocoa and cupcakes at the Barge one day, we decided to put on an event in an attempt to address social segregation on campus and bring people together from every group on campus,” Snider said. “I feel that we accomplished our goal in that the event drew a large diverse crowd.”

Partygoers who had listed themselves as “attending” the Mix-Match Party on the Facebook event page received a notice early on Saturday that the event that been moved to HOP from Donovan’s Pub due to expectations of large crowds. Over one hundred students made their way through the cold to get free food and free t-shirts in the first half-hour of the event. Food was catered by La Iguana, Indian Cafe and Sushi Blues, and the milling crowd devoured it before the first hour was through. The shirts lasted just a touch longer; a surprising fact, given how many students walked off with more than one unnaturally-hued memento. The campus is sure to see a shock of color in the remaining six weeks of term as attendees sport the highlighter yellow, bright orange, neon pink, electric blue and fluorescent green tees.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the event was the dress code. Though the change of location Facebook message told partygoers to “dress as crazy as [they’d] like” and to “mix and match” while being creative, the attendees were for the most part a tad too normative in their ensembles, new neon acquisitions not withstanding. A few daring souls were spotted embracing the invitation to commit mortal fashion sins by sporting flannel with paisley, zebra-print leggings and mismatched shoes, among other bright prints and bold colors, but not everyone took the theme to heart.

“Mix and match was a fun chance to eat different foods, see good friends and listen to good music,” first-year Steven Barrientez said.

While food and free shirts are all well and good, what’s a party without music? The Hawaii Club opened the night, as first-year David Case and sophomore Brian Petrowski performed several songs, including Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl.” Then the overhead lights went down, the strobe lights went up and the glow sticks came out. It would have been a rave if more people had been dancing. Even with half the crowd conversing in small groups some distance from the dance floor, the DJ continued mixing blends of Lady GaGa, Ke$ha and other Top 40 dance artists. However, not even hot beats and pulsating lights were enough to keep the crowd in the HOP. By 10:30 p.m., there were few students left in the room, so the remaining musical acts had to be canceled.

“The DJ was mixin’; my socks weren’t matchin’; everyone was minglin’… What more could I ask for? Great idea, Doneisha and Ashley!” senior Kathleen Cooney said.

“Overall, I really enjoyed the first half of the party and especially the performance from Hawaii Club, a new cultural group on campus,” Snider said. “We had to end the event slightly early after most of the people simply left. However, while people were there picking up t-shirts, glow sticks, eating food, hitting the pinata and listening to the music, it seemed as though everyone generally had a good time. I want to thank all of those that came out and supported our efforts. We hope that someone will make this party an annual event and make improvements where needed.”