This past Saturday a dance was hosted by the school for the enjoyment and merriment of all involved. However, some students were less than thrilled with the theming of the event.
“I just think it touches on feelings and wounds that aren’t quite healed yet,” an anonymous freshman said.
Another student was quoted as saying, “So many people lost their lives to this horrible tragedy, it’s not right to use their memory as an excuse to get drunk and hook-up!”
The dance has indeed formed somewhat of a schism on campus. It seems, in this reporter’s opinion, that there are just as many people in favor as there are against it.
Perhaps one of the better results of the controversy of the dance is that it has created a spirited dialogue on what is and what isn’t “too soon.”
Some of the proponents of the dance, or as their opposition calls them, “Iceberg Apologists,” purport that everyone needs to lighten up, and remember that “it was only a dance!”
“This whole thing happened such a long time ago, people need to be able to laugh and have fun already.”
While their appeals for levity are convincing, they do not appear to have appeased the steadily growing group of dissenters.
“They obviously don’t respect our ancestors,” retorted one junior after hearing the statement. “My great-great grandfather’s best friend’s cousin’s dog was a victim of the disaster, and I still carry his memory with me to this day. The fact that these insensitive students taint the memory of my—nay OUR ancestors makes me physically sick.”
He added later, “These wounds are as deep as the ocean the Titanic sank into.”
Another student laid out a slightly different argument for why the dance was so controversial.
“It’s like… you wouldn’t be riding your longboard down Commencement Walk, and then…like…run into an iceberg…would you? Or… you wouldn’t raise your hand in class, and then like… get hit by an iceberg right? Or like… it would be SOO insensitive if you…like…were rowing crew and like winning a race, and being like super psyched about winning, and then all the sudden you hold Rose tightly in your arms as you stand at the bow of the ship, living in the pure ecstasy of the moment, forgetting everything about your life, your job, your responsibilities, the different socioeconomic backgrounds that you both come from, giving in to the most powerful emotion there is–love. Right? I mean, that would be so heartless!”
Despite the considerable number of people against the dance, there were never any signs of it being cancelled.
In fact, some group of outlying students living on Theme Row were so excited that they planned their own private costume-making party.
Two friends in the house began to work on their ship and iceberg costumes weeks in advance of the actual dance so that they could crash into each other on the dance floor in an epic simulation of the real tragedy.
However, in the days preceding the event there was growing talk in the ranks of ASUPS to force a change of theme to the dance.
Of all the considerations for a change of theme, the most likely option presented to the organizers was space.
One ASUPS officer, who preferred to remain anonymous, said ‘Challenge’her to a Dance: A Blast-Off Good Time’ was his personal favorite.
Overall, the new name and theme seemed to receive a decent amount of praise. However, despite the positive reception to the change of theme and the overwhelmingly negative response to the insensitive and offensive Titanic theme, the dance was not altered.
