A time-honored tradition at Drury University has been the annual dance called May Ball, which–you guessed it–typically happens every May. It was a time of celebration on campus where all students could come together and enjoy a night of dressing up and dancing. However, last year’s May Ball was just one of the many things cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, it will be back, although it may look a little, or entirely, different.

Instead of an actual May Ball, Student Union Board (SUB), will be putting on an event that will take the place of May Ball while still following Drury’s COVID-19 safety guidelines. This event,
called Under the Big Top, will be taking place on Tuesday May 11 from 6-9 pm. The Mirror talked with the president of SUB, Izzy Jaynes, to see what is in store for this new event.

When asked how Under the Big Top came to be, Jaynes answered, “SUB was determined to make some sort of event happen. We knew going into this school year that some things were going to look different, due to COVID, so we have tried to be very flexible this year and have tried to figure out COVID-friendly ways to still bring students together. We knew May Ball would not be the best event to put on in a pandemic, so we decided to do a more COVID-friendly replacement event instead, but one that will still be just as much fun!”

Jaynes also described what will be offered throughout the night, “For this event, there will be 11 inflatable carnival games, as well as a food truck, edible cookie dough, raffle prizes, a photo booth and caricature artists. All of these things will be outside and will be free to students.”

If students wish to be a part of Under the Big Top, all they need to do is show up! SUB will be posting any new information related to the event on their social media pages, @subatdrury on Instagram, @SUBatDrury on Twitter and Drury Student Union Board on Facebook. There will also be posters put up around campus to inform students about the event.

The pandemic has changed a lot of things, including Drury traditions like May Ball. However, just because we can’t have some of the events we used to have, doesn’t mean that the new ones that take their place will be any less amazing.

Article by Sammie Ellis