The 2016 President’s Ball celebrated 50 years since the College first inaugurated the event under the name “The President’s Christmas Ball.” More than 1050 people attended the event in the College’s new Searle Center, the most ever since its start in 1966.
Over the past five decades, the Ball has developed and taken on many different forms as Hillsdale has matured as a school.
This year’s event featured The Jerry Ross Band, and culminated in the long-standing President’s Ball tradition, the coronation of a King and Queen from a court of 10 chosen seniors. This year’s King and Queen were Kyle Cooper and Marie Wathen.
“About three weeks prior to President’s Ball, I contact all the faculty and ask them to nominate five senior men and five senior women that they believe should represent the court of President’s Ball,” Student Activities Director Anthony Manno said. “They nominate people based on academics, extracurricular activities, character, how they are as a student in and out of class — overall people who embody Hillsdale and should represent us in the President’s Ball court.”
Once the faculty has chosen the ten nominees, the Arnns invite them to Broadlawn for an interview tea the Friday before the Ball. After the tea, a faculty panel asks nominees questions ranging from “What do you plan to do after college?” to “What is honor?” On the night of the Ball, the court attends a reception at the Arnns before heading to the event.
But President’s Ball has not always been what it is today. The event began in 1966 as a school-wide Christmas party. The Collegian reported the Ball’s intent “was to give students and faculty a chance to meet on a social level.” The College hired a live band to play “rock music for the younger people attending” and “subdued music for the less young attending.” Then-president Donald Phillips would then announce king and queen.
In 1972, the Ball became an event independent of the Christmas season. To accommodate for President George Roche III’s busy schedule, the college moved the event to Saint Patrick’s Day. Because of this change, 1972 marked a shift in the Ball’s tone, and the event became more focused on the king and queen. The Collegian reported many students thought the Ball “seemed like a re-lived Senior Prom.”
In 1973, the college decided to start hosting the Ball in February, as a way to provide students a break from mid-winter dullness. But after the 1974 Ball, Hillsdale discontinued the event. Lackluster interest, as well as the financial issues plaguing the school at the time, threatened to cancel the Ball. Even when resumed in 1977, student misconduct threatened to discontinue the event yet again.
The college revived the Ball in 1979 for a final try. In compliance with the new federal drinking laws, no alcoholic beverages were served at the event. In response, several fraternities held alternative parties in an attempt to lull students away from the Ball. This practice persisted until the early 1980s, when the school moved the event so it would not conflict with the “fraternity party schedule.”
Now the President’s Ball has become a regularized eventand one of Hillsdale’s official traditions.
Manno said President’s Ball has become a firm fixture in Hillsdale’s culture.
“When you first establish a new event, it’s a new event, not a tradition,” he said. “As it picks up momentum year after, and it gains notoriety, it becomes a tradition. it becomes something people look forward to and put on their calendars. I love it because it’s a way we can give back to students.”
