Honors students create annual formal ball

Hutton Honors College students will have the opportunity to dress up and put on their dancing shoes for a night of socializing and raising money for a good cause Saturday.

The 2nd Annual Hutton Honors College Formal Ball: A Masquerade will be held from 8 to 11 p.m. Jan. 23 in the Indiana Memorial Union’s Alumni Hall. The event is free of charge.

Junior Alyssa Faughn, vice president of the Honors Student Organization, said the group chose to make the event annual after the success of last year’s  “Mock Inaugural Ball.”

To fit this year’s theme, there will be masks available for attendees to decorate and wear throughout the night. Faughn said there will be free food and drinks as well as a special free dance lesson offered by members of the IU Ballroom Dance Club at 7:30 p.m.

Faughn said this year’s ball also offers the opportunity to give back. The event will feature a “dance auction” in which HSO members will be auctioned off for dances throughout the evening.

Money will go to benefit Partners in Health’s Haiti relief efforts. Donations will also be accepted.

Honors member and sophomore Brynne Underwood said, “Even though this is only the second annual honors ball, we’ve been planning it all year. Last year’s was a great success, and I feel a lot of honors students, including myself, are excited because it’s the only time all year where honors students can come and mingle with each other and other groups at IU.”

All Hutton honors students are invited and encouraged to bring a friend or date.