California Lutheran University’s Silent Disco returned on Friday, March 3, at Grace Patio, after being postponed due to rain. The event was put on by Associated Students California Lutheran University Government. 

Nicolina Ranieri, senior representative for ASCLU, said in a Zoom interview that the Programs Board committee she is on decided to move the location of the Silent Disco from Memorial Field to Grace Patio when the event had to be rescheduled. Ranieri said the headphone company they were renting from, Sound Off, had previously planned on the headphones being sent back to them on Feb. 24; however, they were able to keep the headphones until the event.

“We would have had to ship them back and then re-bought them for next week,” Ranieri said. “I was just ready for all hell to break loose. But luckily, it ended up being [a] really smooth process, like postponing it and changing locations and everything.”

Cal Lutheran’s undergraduate students attended for free and checked in with their student IDs to get access to food from Churro Champ and Rice Balls of Fire, lawn games, including cornhole and Spikeball, and neon-themed accessories, such as light-up bracelets and sunglasses. 

When students turned in their student IDs in exchange for Sound Off headphones, they could dance to their choice of music through a switch on the headphones.

Cal Lutheran student Ethan Klein said, “I like dancing in the dome. It’s fun in there and having a great time using the headphones. I’ve enjoyed all the playlists. I’ve been switching back and forth. There’s songs on there that I’ve listened to growing up and songs that are in the here and now.”

There were three channels of playlists curated that the Programs Board differentiated by color, including blue for today’s hits, red for throwbacks and green for EDM/house. 

“The music is really good. I like the green one. I just recognize the music a lot more,” Jessica Wiley, a first-year who came with her friends, said. 

Melanie Masson, ASCLU Programs Board director, said in an email interview that she didn’t hold the hand of the Silent Disco committee throughout every step of the planning process, but was there to help them with anything they needed, especially in case things went a bit sideways. She said that $10,000 from the Programs Board’s budget was allocated to this event this year, which originated from students’ tuition fees.

Ranieri said she helped plan the Silent Disco this year and last year. She said she decided to participate in the committee for the Silent Disco again this year because this event was one of the only events she went to last year, and also where she met most of her friends on campus. Ranieri said that even though you would not think the Silent Disco would be the place to have conversations and make friends, she found that it was a great event to do that. 

“Our goal was to have people enjoy a silent experience together because I feel like it’s a different sensory environment,” Ranieri said. “It’s not the basic, ‘Let’s sit and talk.’ You have to interact with people in different ways. It’s also not so much pressure. I feel like you’re kind of in your own world.” 

Masson said that last year’s event was really lowkey, and most of the current committee members for the Silent Disco were not here to experience the event last year, so they wanted to bring something that we didn’t have.

“There are plenty more opportunities for students to be interactive with each other, including a more diverse choice of music. The committee hopes that this event brings an opportunity for students to let loose and create lasting memories with their friends,” Masson said.

Ranieri said that part of Silent Disco’s value is that it is a type of event that not many other people will do and at Cal Lutheran, it has been a hit.

“We just wanted it to feel like a community. I wanted this event to catch people’s attention. I really want new people that maybe haven’t been to events [to] come to this one,” Ranieri said.