After years of pleading by the student body, the annual Winter Semi-Formal has been brought back by Lincoln Park’s Student Council. Despite its novelty and high demand, do students actually plan on attending the dance?
“Yes,” said Lena Shirley, a junior health science major from Beaver Falls. “I already have a dress, and I want to go. [It’s] something to do.”
A junior fine arts and design major from Beaver Falls, Breylynn Matthews, also plans on attending the dance. “I am going to the dance because why not? You know, it’s something fun to do. I’m just going to go, and hang out with my friends.”
Winter Formal is on Feb. 14 (Valentine’s Day) and will run from 5 to 8 p.m. Ticket prices are similar to Fall Ball, in that they’re $25 for Lincoln Park students and $30 for non-LP guests. However, only grades 10-12 are allowed to attend.
While many of the students we talked to were enthusiastic about the dance and planned to participate, one point of debate was the date.
“I’m, like, 80 percent sure I’m going,” Camille Estellon, a junior fine arts and design major from South Fayette, stated. “The only reason I wouldn’t is because it’s on Valentine’s Day, which is slightly inconvenient for anybody who has a date.” She added that going to the formal might be hard for people who are “doing something else.”
Sophomore Vivian McCain, a musical theater major from West Allegheny, doesn’t plan on going to the dance for multiple reasons, one of the main ones being that it’s on a holiday.
“I have a boyfriend, and we’re going out for Valentine’s Day, like most people are,” McCain said. “[The dance] is great for people that aren’t going to be doing anything and maybe feel left out on the whole Valentine’s Day thing, but—I don’t know; I feel like it’s going to be boring. A lot of people aren’t going to show up.”
Another hot topic was the theme for the dance, which Student Council decided was the Eighties, with a sub-theme of the popular TV series Stranger Things.
McKenna Ross, a senior pre-law major from Bel Vernon, who is the president of Student Council, said that the theme is partly to do with the Pennsylvania Association of Student Councils event set to occur at Lincoln Park the day before the dance. This event is also Stranger Things themed. However, even though the decorations will be re-used, the dance won’t be as centered around the show.
“So, I mean, I think it’s not going to be creepy demogorgony. It is gonna be more like Eighties feeling, which I think is cool. And I think it’s different,” Ross explained. “Usually we do, like, really whimsical foresty stuff. So it’s cool to have something that’s a little bit of a throwback.”
Ross also explained how she originally wanted the dance to be reminiscent of that of the classic Sadie Hawkins dance, but that this theme was decided to be the better move.
Despite this decision, some students find the theme confusing.
“It being Stranger Things themed feels unfocused because it’s a school dance. It’s not, like, a movie night,” stated Roman Churney, a sophomore theater major hailing from Houston. “Why are we making it Stranger Things-themed other than to just be able to recycle decorations?”
Sydney Davis, a junior fine arts and design major from Ambridge, shared, “I hope the prom theme is a little more timeless.” However, regarding the Winter Semi-Formal theme, she added, “I don’t mind [the theme]; I think it could be fun.
“I think it’s cute. The show just finished, so I guess it makes sense,” Davis said. “But maybe you could have it as something that you could look back on in 20 years and be like, ‘Oh, that’s iconic.’”
With so many differences in opinion also come differences in fashion. The majority of the students we spoke with said that they aren’t following the theme and chose outfits purely based on the season and holiday.
Shirley said that her dress is “a white skintight dress, and it’s down to, like, my mid-thigh, and it’s sparkly white.”
“I’m not following the theme,” she added. “I feel like it’s cool, but I don’t know how I would match it. I don’t know what dress I would wear.”
Matthews is still on the fence about which dress she’s wearing.
“So, I got two dresses off Facebook Marketplace,” she stated. “I don’t know which one I’m going to wear yet. I have a gold sparkly one, and then a blue one that has, like, the back open.”
Junior film and broadcasting major Layla Turkson from Beaver Falls has a similar dress to one of Matthews’.
“I have a blue dress picked,” she shared. “It’s a blue rose dress. I have blue heels, and I’m wearing a fuzzy jacket over it.”
As a whole, Lincoln Park students have mixed opinions on the Winter Semi-formal. One undeniable fact: Lincoln Park administrators listened to the student body and are delivering on their promise, no matter the outcome.
“You gotta weigh all your pros and cons,” Turkson said, “Because not everybody’s gonna be happy at the end of the day.”
SIREN staff members Aydden Yope, Evie Lindgren, Demarion Martin, and Mia Clemons also contributed to this story.
