By Norma Hernandez

Reporter

The beautiful country of Morocco with its beautiful scenery, exquisite architectural designs, and vibrant décor,  inspired this year’s homecoming dance theme. Campus Programming hosted “A Night in Morocco”, giving CSU Bakersfield students the inexpensive chance to dance the night away in Morocco at the Marriott Hotel on Feb. 24.

The dance offered a variety of different appetizers, sweets, and snacks. The DJ put the right music to get as many people on the dance floor, and there were enough lounge areas for tired guests.

The turnout for the dance was good. Campus Programming sold about 600 tickets. One ticket for a CSUB student cost $5 and $10 for outside guests.

Xanah Siripane, an economics major, said, “I was very surprised, I thought it would be expensive.”

Juleene De Leon said that the price was reasonable because in high school, students pay $50 to $60 for their school dances.

Price wasn’t an issue for many students.

The day of the dance, several students arrived early at around 9 p.m. but most students, still struggled to find parking.

Beatriz Munoz, a freshman psychology major, said that she made several trips around the parking lot to avoid parking too far from the venue.

“We went like all around [for about] half an hour,” said Munoz.

The Marriott had other guests staying at the hotel and the parking lot became very limited to students attending the dance.

Several students didn’t know that the hotel offered shuttle services to and from the Beale Memorial Library parking lot, across the street. Lupita Lopez, a business administration major, said that she took the shuttle because she saw it and took the opportunity to get a ride rather than to walk at night.

To avoid parking all together, some students were dropped off.

Information about the shuttle would have been more useful to students prior to the dance.

Before guests could enter the venue, they had to sign a fee waiver and put on their bracelets to indicate their age because alcohol was being served. As students approached the entrance, there was a line to take pictures at a photo booth covered with purple, yellow, and pink drapes.

Ashley Aguilar said, “I think it’s [photo booth] really nice, I love the colorful coordination. It brings good vibes.”

As guests took their pictures at the photo booth, Aguilar noticed the different kinds of dresses other guests were wearing and would have liked some direction on what kind of dress would be appropriate for the dance.

“I feel like I’m very under dressed,” said Aguilar.

Several women at the dance wore different types of dresses: long and formal, casual, cocktail, and club dresses. Some students didn’t know how to dress according to the theme.

“It was kind of hard to find something [to wear for the theme],” said Vanessa Rocha, sociology major.

Although several students struggled with their wardrobe, it didn’t stop them from attending and enjoying the dance.

“I feel like I just want to get involved in everything that goes on school,” said Eloisa Torres, a political science major.

There were still many people getting settled in, but then the DJ played the “Cupid Shuffle” which really got the party started because it made more people get on the dance floor. Once they started dancing, they kept dancing.