Eric Seo, Staff Writer

On April 4, Beloit College students gathered together to celebrate the common end-of-year celebration in American high schools–prom. 

The second floor of Pearsons was transformed into that of a secondary school gymnasium, with balloons, streamers, and even a decapitated pinata decorating the space. Prom was “very much a group effort, but mostly put together by Flora‘24, her passion and dedication really made this happen,” says Ella Diers‘24, one student who helped put the show on.

This event was completely student-run, without club or organization affiliation. Students gathered together to gain permission from school administrators to ensure the project’s success. Indeed, the project was successful, with students from every walk of campus life attending prom dressed in their best outfits. 

Student organizer of the event, Flora Milford‘24, says “The process was a stressful one because we had reserved and cleaned a space up two weeks before prom, and two days before we were told that we weren’t allowed to use it anymore.” Students took to social media to express their distaste with the location change on an anonymous account, posting memes mimicking a news feed reading “Prom to be held in 2nd floor Pearsons: ‘Beloit hates fun’ organizers said, ‘It will still be pretty af tho.’” Despite the logistical hiccups, Milford says “I think we created something beautiful. It was really awesome and totally worth it.”

Prom is a long-running tradition at Beloit, with students holding the dance for each other at various production levels for years. The organizers of the 2024 prom describe a determination to keep the tradition alive while expressing hope that it will live long past their four-year tenure at Beloit College.

The dance was not without the traditional accouterment, with students offering one another the so-called promposals needed to accompany a date with sappy posters and music. In this way, students are allowed to go back to a simpler time with less obligations: high school. Students were able to relive the best moments of their high school years, while also building up their collegiate memories. Further, students gathered to vote for members of a prom court, picking who they believed would be the best prom queen, king, jester, and wench, with Sophia Nitsche‘25, Siona Shishak‘27, Cam Stenberg‘24, and Sam Shae‘25 crowned as prom royalty, respectively. 

Ultimately, prom is an expression of what it means to be a Beloiter–students coming together to create something for each other. It embodies the ideas of kindness and acceptiveness that students advertise so loudly.