White Dinner: Behind the Scenes

White Dinner is a long-standing tradition at Wilson College. It dates back to the early 1900’s.

The event started so there could be an early celebration of the seniors’ graduation.

This is still true today, said Campus Activities Board (CAB) Traditions director, Martha Hinish ’16. “White Dinner is a celebration of the years the seniors have given to life at Wilson College.”

The celebration is a dinner and a dance. The dinner occurs in Jensen Dining Hall, while the dance is held in Laird Hall. CAB designs and plans both the dinner and the dance.

The preparation of White Dinner starts early and requires a lot of time and energy. Early in the semester CAB members discuss themes for the event. The discussion continues until CAB narrows the themes down to four choices.

This year’s potential themes included 007, Fire and Ice, Masquerade Ball, and “Arabian Nights.” CAB announced the themes to the Wilson community and asked for the community to vote on a theme. The voting continued for about a week. CAB then counted the ballots and announced the winning theme, Masquerade Ball.

While thinking up decoration ideas for White Dinner, the traditions director calculates how much money the event requires.

“Between Thanksgiving Dinner and White Dinner, we use up all $8,000 that is given to us for the semester,” says Hinish.

The money goes towards the food and decorations for both events. The majority of the money goes to White Dinner due to decorations, party favors, music and food.

This year, the White Dinner Masquerade Ball is on Dec 6. The dinner starts at 5:30 p.m. and the dance goes from 7-11 p.m. The event is semi-formal, so there is no need to go out and buy a fancy dress. If you attend do not forget to bring a mask. Nikki Zuleger ’17, director of CAB Creative Events and Entertainment, will be holding a mask-making workshop Dec 1 and 2 at 9:15 p.m. in Lower Lenfest.

For more information on White Dinner, contact Martha Hinish at martha.hinish@wilson.edu.