As attendees ascended to the 52nd floor of the Prudential Center, they felt their ears pop as the elevator climbed to the top of the city, their anticipation for this year’s Spring Ball reaching a peak. As they walked into the venue space, students and their guests were met with views of the entire city that increased in clarity as the fog died down throughout the night. With hors d’oeuvres being served on silver platters, this black tie event had an upscale feel that matched the dress of the attendees who showed up in an array of gowns and suits that screamed elegance.
“I just like all the people here, and the food is really good, and the atmosphere is really good in general. I love it so much,” said Maria Gallant, a junior, at her first Spring Ball at Suffolk.
For students who are approaching their first experience at this event and for those who have gone to many previous Spring Balls alike, they were all happy for the opportunity to dress up and be with friends.
“Honestly, just me and my friends putting on makeup and getting on dresses was so much fun,” said Lia Price, a freshman, when describing her excitement for the night.
This event was put on by Suffolk University’s Program Council, a group dedicated to organizing events that bring Suffolk’s student body together and foster community. They put on many events every year, with Spring Ball being one of their biggest.
As such, the planning process to ensure everything goes smoothly is extensive. For Spring Ball this year, they first started making plans in August.
“For Spring Ball, it’s probably our furthest planned-out event. You have to start thinking about it very early because you’re dealing with a lot of large organizations that may be very particular about the type of groups that they’re hosting,” said Ellorie Corcoran, the tradition’s chair for Program Council and PC’s vice president of finance and administration.
Corcoran also organized last year’s Spring Ball.
This highly anticipated event is annual, with certain aspects that can be expected, such as a DJ and a photo booth. Each yearismade a little different with a different venue and theme that adds a new spin.
“I want this to be my lasting legacy at Suffolk, so I looked at different places, and I was like, ‘Oh I really want to bring it to a new height,’” said Josh Catino, this year’s tradition’s chair of PC, and the main organizer of this year’s Spring Ball, on choosing the top of the Prudential Center to host his event.
From there, he found his theme, playing on the height and atmosphere of the venue, he decided on “City of Stars,” brought to life by the awe-inspiring venue that allowed attendees to see the whole city from the windows surrounding the space and the open balcony below the main floor.
“I was like, ‘wow, we’re really close to the stars,’ kind of being geeky. So I was like, ‘what if we did something along the lines of the city of stars, or our city of stars, and how we could play on nuances across those different words,’” Catino said.
But, going from a plan to the actual event is very different, as Catino explains, with there being unexpected surprises, both positive and negative, that come at the last minute.
“It’s honestly all that I could have dreamed of. I wish we could see a little bit more but, you know, weather, I can’t really control that as much as I would love to,” Catino said.
Last year’s Spring Ball was held in the New England Aquarium where the large space made it so students could choose more so their experience, however Corcoran admits that different venue spaces are better at encouraging dancing, something that was less of a problem this year, with dancers finding a space in different areas around the windows and up on a raised platform with the DJ.
“I would have liked if we focused a little bit more on the flow because I personally just wanted more people dancing, and I think that just the way that the venue was, it allowed for people to kind of be in their own space and be with their friends and not be on the dance floor and with everybody, but my freshman year, I remember loving being on the dance floor,” said Corcoran.
Each year, the different venues offer their own appeals for different people, each with aspects that make them unique and fun in their own way. For Marissa Pierre, Program Council’s faculty advisor, her favorite rendition of this event was five years ago, when it was held at the Museum of Science.
“I just thought that was so cool. It was a very unique, you know, place to have like a prom event,” said Pierre.
Being placed at such an important point within the semester, amid studying for finals and the semester wrapping up, this event offers a time for students to relax, giving them an outlet to just have fun amid the stress of college.
“Get together, have fun, dance, eat. I think it’s a good opportunity to just let loose a little and you all need that at this time of the year,” Pierre said.
PC’s goal is to make events like this accessible and fun for all who attend, striving to make college about more than just academics, but about community as well.
“We’re not a school that’s rooted in Greek culture. I always say, Greek culture is not the culture of Suffolk, but involvement is the culture of Suffolk,” said Corcoran. “At a lot of other schools, especially in the South, a lot of sororities and fraternities will have formals, but those formals once again are specific to the people that are in those organizations and so I’ve always found Spring Ball to be really special in the sense that we don’t confine it to one specific group and really is for the entire undergraduate population.”
With the city of Boston at their feet, students were able to appreciate their very own city of stars with their friends and peers, fostering the vibrant community at Suffolk.
