On October 21, Students dressed up in their best costumes and danced throughout the evening during the Spooky Saluki Costume Dance Saturday night in the Student Center ballrooms. The event was hosted as a collaboration between the Saluki Furry Society and the Saluki Rainbow Network.
Guests enjoyed snacks and drinks as various genres of music were played throughout the night, giving attendees the opportunity to broaden their musical interests and socialize with friends.
Jonathan Kish is the Saluki Furry Society Treasurer and both worked with other members to organize an event that would incorporate the wants of a diverse group of students. They also helped to engage students in activities during the event.
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Kish said, “This event serves a few purposes and benefits. Firstly, it’s an alternative event during unofficial Halloween for students to attend on campus. Secondly, this event gives students and locals the opportunity to bring costumes, may that be a Halloween costume or other type.”
Everyone in attendance chose to dress up, and they had options for activities to participate in. Students could sit at tables to eat and watch others groove on the dance floor, or could choose to partake in the music and dancing themselves.
“I’d say the best thing about hosting events like this is allowing everyone the chance to do something fun and safe. And, since the event is free for everyone, it allows for that more open and welcoming environment of events like this,” Kish said.
Jay A. said, “The event is good if you like a lot of energy…and if you like going out dancing but you don’t like the energy of bars because of the drinking. There’s also a lot of queer people here. That’s also a really good added bonus, because you have a lot of people who you know, or who are in similar groups to you.”
He also said a lot of the people he hangs out with are involved in both the Rainbow Network and Furry Society, and while it was his first time at one of these kinds of events, it was fun to enjoy the event and spend time with members of both groups.
Since the event was open to guests who are not SIU students, many attendees took advantage of the opportunity to bring their friends, and family members to the event.
Pearl T. invited her sister, Pam, to attend the event with her, allowing them to spend time together during their free hours. Pam is not a student at SIU, and even though neither of them are active members of either of the RSOs hosting the event, they both said the event was fun.
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“The music is definitely hyped up and there’s a lot of space that you can use [to dance and socialize],” Pearl T. said. “If you know people it’s easy to talk to them too.”
Regardless of individual interests and social circles, participants of the event were able to come together to dress up and celebrate Halloween a week early.
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