All-campus ball resurrected

The Orange and Black Ball will return to the University this fall after an absence of more than over four decades, members of the junior and senior class governments confirmed. The ball will take place on Nov. 11, though the location has not yet been finalized.

According to Class of 2012 president Lindy Li, the class governments had been discussing the revival of the ball for more than a year. Since the most recent report of the Working Group on Campus Social and Residential Life was released last May, class officers decided to begin working to bring students together by planning to convert the idea of a campus-wide ball into a reality.

“The class governments were talking about how we could show that the class governments were going to provide avenues and different opportunities for Princeton students to get to know one another and hang out,” Class of 2013 president Zachary Beecher said. “It was really the social report that came out at the end of last year that got us thinking about how we can bring the campus together.”

The ball will take place during homecoming weekend, after the football team’s game against Yale. It had traditionally been held during that weekend before it was discontinued in the 1960s, due to the “troubles” the University went through in that period, Beecher said. In that decade, Princeton adjusted to coeducation and experienced a strong draft resistance movement.

Li and Beecher both emphasized that they were particularly excited to be reviving a storied Princeton institution rather than simply creating a new event.

“We’re reviving a long tradition,” Li said. “It didn’t survive the ’60s. Prior to that, the Orange and Black Ball was a pivotal part of the Princeton experience.”

Though members of all three class governments are involved, Beecher has been taking the lead in the planning process, with Li and Class of 2012 Social Chair Tulio Alvarez Burgos also playing major roles. The group has also been working closely with Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Thomas Dunne.

Dunne did not respond to repeated requests for comment for this article.

“The class governments are all working together, in unison, to build and craft a campus-wide event that will bring all the classes together and really build and emphasize our Princeton community,” Beecher said. “It’ll be an exciting weekend. There will be a lot of Princeton pride and a great opportunity for people to come out.”

While Beecher could not say where the ball would be held because the arrangements have not yet been finalized, he emphasized that the location would be large enough to accommodate every member of the Princeton community who wishes to attend. He added that the governments are currently in the process of lining up a “big artist” to perform at the ball.

Beecher and Li noted, however, that the event is entirely unrelated to the posting on Lupe Fiasco’s website indicating that he will be in Princeton on Nov. 18. Beecher, Li and Dunne all said that they were not familiar with any potential concert.