The first Royal Ball – organizers devise a secret and nerdy plan for seniors

Mason Farnan | The Queens Chronicle

From the Royal Ball at Queens University of Charlotte on Jan. 31, 2014. All photos by Mason Farnan.

Believe it or not, this occurred in Young Dining Hall. Jan. 31 was the first Royal Ball.

“The Royal Ball was a secret plan for the seniors,” explained the senior class president William Kervick. “Actually, how this idea came is a very nerdy story. Over the summer, I was watching Harry Potter and the Yule Ball came up. I sent the info to the SYE [Senior Year Experience committee] and said, ‘We should do a Yule Ball.’ They said, ‘No one’s going to want to go to a Hogwarts event.’ So I said, ‘Why don’t we do the Royal Ball?’”

“This is the largest Queens event for SYE,” he continued. “How can we leave a legacy for our underclassmen? Every senior class can have this chance to say ‘We’re seniors.’”

This year’s SYE advisor is Leigh Davis,who agreed with Kervick.

“Hopefully this will become a tradition for years to come,” she said.

Even Dr. John Downey, dean of students, was having fun. “It’s beautiful…A great new tradition,” he said.

As Professor McGonagall from Harry Potter taught the students a proper dance, freshmen Simon Hirschhorn and Jayme Keefer demonstrated a ballroom step.

With an hour left of the ball, the secret was revealed. Kervick gathered the seniors on the dance floor. The SYE chairs stood with a rolled up poster and Kervick stood with the microphone. As 165 out of 330 seniors whooped and clapped, Kervick announced: “So tonight we are celebrating…we are at 100 days until graduation!”