On Friday, Mar. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in Valhalla, Cartwright Center, the UW-La Crosse Student Association is hosting their First Annual Charity Ball.
Tickets for the ball are $12, which includes a meal, performances, guest speakers and the dance afterwards, and the rest will be donated. At the ball, there will be an area where people can give more donations in addition to the purchase of their ticket.
The event welcomes the entire UW-L community and beyond; however, the tickets must be purchased through someone with a UW-L login.
Tickets are on sale now until Feb. 28. They can be purchased online through the UW-L Student Association Page or at the front desk of Cartwright.
Groups or clubs on campus have the opportunity to reserve tables and be recognized. If interested, contact the UW-L Student Association.
In the fall of 2014, the UW-L Student Association took the “It’s On Is” Pledge, which is a national campaign launched from the White House. The pledge is a commitment to keeping men and women safe from sexual assault. After taking the pledge, the Student Association organized a “Tackling Sexual Assault” flag football tournament to raise money for New Horizons as well as to raise awareness for the “It’s On Us” Campaign.
This semester, Alissa Yakes, College of Business Administration senator, and Chris Stackhouse, Public Relations Director on Senate for the UW-L Student Association, have been working on continuing their promise with the Charity Ball.
Yakes said, “This semester I wanted to continue that fight and continue to raise awareness with a different, unique event for the same cause.”
This event will raise money for New Horizons as well, which is a women’s shelter in La Crosse. New Horizons is a shelter for people who have experienced domestic violence. This charity was chosen in order to continue working toward awareness of sexual assault andto support local charities.
“We didn’t want the issue to be over after the incident on campus in the fall… This way, people don’t just forget and move on,” Yakes said.
This will be the first ever Charity Ball, but the Student Association hopes it will become an annual event.
There will be a speaker from New Horizons as well as others. The full list of speakers and performers has yet to be finalized, but UW-L’s very own Vocal Jazz group will be performing along with other talented UW-L students.
Yakes said, “We’re going to have speakers come to speak on the topic of sexual assault and an open dance floor afterwards. It’s not just ‘sit down and stay quiet,’ it’s supposed to be a conversational evening where you can watch performances and have a bite to eat.”