A group of students on Marquette’s campus are set to host a Sneaker Ball, where students are encouraged to wear formal to semi-formal clothing and wear their favorite sneakers. The students were connected to this project as a result of a shared class.
The Sneaker Ball came to life in a class called “Topics in Communication: Product Realization,“ taught by the Dean of the College of Communication, Sarah Feldner and Chris Navia, vice president for inclusive excellence. The class encourages students to plan events like the Sneaker Ball.
At the event, there will be bins where people will be encouraged to bring in old sneakers that will then be donated. However, sneakers can be donated throughout the month of April on the second floor of the AMU right now outside of room 245.
The group is partnering with “Stan’s Footwear” and will be distributing the sneakers to local shelters at the end of the month.
The ball will be held on April 29 from 6-9 p.m. in the Alumni Memorial Union ballrooms. No RSVP is necessary.
Sebastian Rios, a sophomore in the College of Communication has been involved in the planning that will make this event possible. The whole class is divided up into subgroups and each group has a different role in planning the event.
Rios said that for entertainment, the ball is set to have lots of food, dancing, a photo booth, a basketball hoop and a place where students will be able to customize sneakers. There will also be a red carpet for attendees to show off their sneakers.
“She (Feldner) wants to get student leaders, especially minorities, who have a deeper understanding of the community and who could bring new things to the table that aren’t always highlighted,” Rios said.
Nan Sullivan, a senior in the College of Communication, said that planning the event has pushed the students to new limits, and that a lot of people have displayed leadership in putting the event together.
Rios said that when planning the event, they decided to make it a casual event, meaning no specific dress code is required.
“We want to build community here at Marquette, we feel like there are a lot of clubs that are geared towards certain communities, and again that’s good because we keep it multicultural, but with this one… we thought that at the end of the day having it be universally applicable to all the Marquette students, we wanted to make it as broad as possible,” Rios said.
Sullivan said that she hopes the event will have a high turnout. She said that since Marquette does not have a homecoming dance that this event can offer something similar.
Rios said that while the goal of the event is to have an impact on the Marquette campus, they are also hoping that it will have an impact on the greater Milwaukee community.
“Even just a few shoes can help, they can help a little girl who doesn’t have shoes, or even a family who is less fortunate than us,” Rios said.
This story was written by Ruby Mulvaney. She can be reached at [email protected]
