A Night of Fun at the Silver Ball

Held at the Kimmel Center in the Rosenthal Pavilion on February 23, the Silver Ball is a community event that brings together social work students from all programs for a night of food, music, and "self-care." I was impressed by the all the appropriately silver decorations that aligned the Rosenthal Pavilion and elegant outfits that adorned fellow social work classmates.

Graduate Student Association (GSA) members Danny Cabrera, MSW '13; Tony Dujon Woo, MSW '13; Ikechi Nwankwo, MSW '13; Beth Diesch, MSW '13; Beth Holzman, MSW '13; and President Christopher Lynn-Logue, MSW '13, warmly greeted students at the entrance.

Cabrera made his way to pockets of students and encouraged them to dance and eat. "I wanted to let you know that the food is ready!" he exclaimed.

As I made my way to the table, I saw a fellow classmate and friend, Konul Azimzadeh, MSW '13. She said of the 6th Annual Silver Ball, "It was great to see people outside of the school. I have not had such an awesome time for a while." She and friend, Rakhilya Muslumova, MSW '13, were among the first people to take to the dance floor just shy of the first hour. "I went last year and had a lot of fun," said Muslumova.

It was great to see classmates who I hadn't seen since last year since due to our different schedules. I also had the opportunities to meet the friends and fiances of classmates.

I spoke with Nwankwo, member of the GSA, on his involvement in planning the Silver Ball. "We started planning last semester. We made a committee of people, about eight people." Part of the planning for the Silver Ball this year included student voices. Last year student concerns involved the long lines for the bar. This year, the bar table was longer and more staffed. Students happily visited the bar table and food table with ease.

Nwankwo also cited the help of Courtney O'Mealley and Lesley Heffel in NYU Silver's Office of Student and Alumni Affairs. He said, "When we hit a roadblock, they helped us in the planning process."

What began as months of planning and outreach through email, Facebook, and word of mouth, became a successful sold-out event where students did not think about papers, field, or process recordings. Nwankwo said, "People who were on the committee wanted to be there and wanted to do it. They were passionate about it."

"The highlight of the night was that everyone had fun and everyone was safe," said Lynn-Logue, president of the GSA. "And the fact that we sold-out."

Lynn-Logue echoed the sentiment of Nwankwo that the committee chosen by the GSA was committed to taking into the consideration the wants of students as much as possible. "We took a lot of student requests this year with the DJ. We did the best that we could."

NYU Silver students can thank the GSA for their passion in creating a memorable night. Added Lynn-Logue, on behalf on the GSA, "We want to thank all those that attended."

Click here to see photos from the 2013 Silver Ball.