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H:91°F L:61°F Tue By David Edward Clark
oberlin.edu
Drag Ball has been canceled this year due to lack of student participation in the planning and lack of proper funding due to chartering process issues.
“My best hope is that it’ll be a shock in a way that really energizes people to make a change and commit to spending some time organizing the event,” said Sarah Chase ‘10, the sole member of the Drag Ball Committee. “It has a home on campus; people just need to figure out if they want to really own it.”
Dean of Students Linda Gates gave this statement via email concerning why Drag Ball was cancelled:
Last year after DB, a number of us met several times with the two DB organizers (including this year’s organizer) and we were very clear: if students did not charter the group, did not plan and organize the event in advance, and did not procure funding through procedures that all student organizations use to fund their activities, Drag Ball would be in jeopardy. When none of those things happened, those of us who participated in that discussion—including this year’s sole student organizer—reached consensus that Drag Ball should be canceled for spring 2010.
Student Finance Committee has a policy that an organization cannot take ad hoc money for more than two years in a row without becoming chartered, but “Drag Ball was always kind of the exception to that rule,” said Chase. In the past, Drag Ball has asked for and received ad hoc money from Student Finance Committee, Student Union Board and the Forum Board.
Haley Laws ’09 began the chartering process. “It got stopped somewhere in the process–which is a frustratingly slow process,” said Chase, who is uncertain why Drag Ball was not chartered in the past, “but it didn’t seem to be needed until recently.”
Chase revised Laws’ charter application and submitted it to Student Life Committee in January; however, the General Faculty Committee will not meet to discuss chartering new organizations until March 17th.
“I have great hope that it will be back next year,” said Chase, who sees a full and dedicated committee as necessary for this to happen as a charter. Chase believes lack of student support comes from the fact that “people don’t realize it needs so much support, and that’s a huge problem.” The administration will be happy to see the return of Drag Ball as soon as the organization fulfills the proper requirements of student groups.
“If everyone has a better idea of the history and the politics and the needs of the event, they will be able to act more effectively to make it happen in the future,” said Chase, who plans to write a book on Drag Ball so future Oberlin generations know the ins and outs of the event and can throw the party properly. Chase plans to start scheduling next year’s Drag Ball this semester.
Chase hopes for drag-themed events this semester. There are still plans for performers to come to the ‘Sco for a much smaller engagement. “I want people to know that this is not Drag Ball, that they need to work for Drag Ball,” said Chase when asked whether this is just a toned down version of the event, but “It’s definitely in the spirit of celebrating drag and gender and queerness and genderfucking and all that stuff.”
Awww… man that sucks Drag Ball sounds like it would and was a kick ass event…dammitt would have been cool to read about it!
I have been involved with the organization of Drag Ball for the last 2 years with Hailey Laws and Sarah Chase, This semester, however, I’m studying in Greece. I’d like to offer a proposal for how to revive Drag Ball next year. I’ve written an editorial on the demise and outlined my plan for the rejuvenation of Drag Ball that may be printed in the latest edition of the Review.
First, I propose eliminating decoration and use student union staff only for set up and take down we could reduce the mandatory hour load for student union employees and thereby slash a sizable portion off the price tag. We can use lights to get the right ambiance – we’re still in a recession aren’t we?
Second, we can reduce expenses by hiring fewer east and west coast performers. To me, this means picking one or two big name acts from New York and supplementing the rest of the show with a core of talent that doesn’t live a plane ride away. This means looking inland to Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Chicago.
The problem of organized must be solved at two levels. First, we must gather a collection of hyper-dedicated people that are willing to see this to completion. Second, it the issue of finding a structure that works. The first thing to do now is start to gather a group of interested people now and spin that into a core that can begin next year’s ground-work.
On the issue of organizational structure, I propose that students form a small board of event organizers each one holding authority over a specific aspect of the event and over each other. This means, there must be someone in charge of finding and hiring talent, someone to plan the event publicity, someone to design and run educational workshops about the event, someone to organize Drag Ball events throughout the year, and someone to directly oversee the creation and implementation of a new budget. If committed people can seize these and other positions, than there will be no need for another Drag Ball titan like Hailey Laws.
maybe when it returns it will be better anyway…
I’m guessing it’s an April fools joke. Drag ball is an Oberlin standard… they wouldn’t do that to the first years, would they?
Not a joke. Pinky swear.
Awww, you always looked cute in a dress, David!
I’m impressed, well put together article. The headline grabbed me and instantly got me fired up (damn those heteronormative administrators!) but that knee-jerk righteous anger was quelled just as quickly as soon as I read that it all came down to simple student inaction. Turns out it wasn’t of case of They doing this to Us so much as Us doing it to Ourselves. D’oh! Way to practice legit journalism.
To mash up Saul Alinsky and the Beastie Boys, “You gotta fight – and organize – for your right to paaartaaayyy!”