Tuesday night went down in ACU history as the first on-campus dance. Themed “Dance in Disguise,” the dance took place the Bob and Shirley Hunter Welcome Center in celebration of the passing of a revised dance policy granting students permission to dance at social events.

About 750 students showed up to take part in the celebration throughout the night, and 500 received free dance T-shirts.

“My dad told me I had to come,” said Bailey Evans, junior 3D art major from Gresham, Oreg. “I’m making ACU history.”

Wilson White, junior history major from Ozona, also attended, though he said he was not big on dancing.

“Lots of schools have dances,” White said. “It’s very similar to my high school prom; it is mainly just a big social event. I don’t really have a problem with it, as long as it doesn’t distract you from your schoolwork, which is why I just came for a little bit.”

Rebecca Dial, junior political science and finance major from Lexington, South Carolina, said she was surprised at the turnout. She said everything, from the colored retro lights to the DJ to the rented dance floor in the center of the Welcome Center’s ballroom turned out better than she anticipated.

“I have seen some indecent dancing but overall people are aware that it’s a privilege and they can still have fun without being entirely indecent,” Dial said. “A few people were told to watch it, but the chaperones, who are members of student life, have been friendly while monitoring, so we didn’t feel overwhelmed.”

Ryan Stice, junior youth and family ministries major from Arlington, and Carole-Marie Wiser, junior advertising and public relations major from Richmond, both said they would be interested in seeing the setup and song selection of the dance appeal to a greater variety of dance styles. The music was predominately pop and hip hop songs that they said gave off a club-like atmosphere.

“This seems like the kind of dancing ACU is against, we were not expecting to come in and it be like a club,” Stice said. “We’re making do and doing some actual dance moves like spins and turns. We’re kind of sitting outside and waiting for a song so we could go in there and dance.”

Wiser said she would gladly volunteer to give a lesson, or three, before the next dance if ACU wanted her to in hopes that it would bring a greater variety of styles to the dance floor and help spice up the large group of students in the middle of the dance floor just jumping up and down.

Tom Craig, director of student activities and productions, said the philosophy behind the Student Association and Campus Activities Board selecting that particular style of dance was to be as inclusive as they could be to allow as many people to be involved in the fun.

“I think our students have been interested in dancing because it’s an identifying cultural element for their generation,” said Tom Craig. “They grew up dancing in all different forms and fashions, so as they’ve gotten older they’ve continued to dance and it’s a natural form of expression for them.”

“We put students in a real life dance situation, we didn’t play it safe with a sock hop or a country two step or anything and it went really well,” said Julianne Hart, senior political science major from Austin and vice president of the Student Association. “I think we’re on our way to establishing a culture of appropriate dance at ACU and I’m excited to see that students were able to have a good time and stay within the boundaries of our community expectations.”

Hart said the suggestion of changing the policy was brought up in August and she has been surprised at how supportive people were. She said she could see that the board of trustees really wanted what is best for the student body and is looking out for the students. There were some people on campus and alumni that still are not in favor, but for the most part people are open to the change.

“Things can change, we have four years on this campus to make a difference. As a freshman, I remember being surprised by the fact that there was no dancing on campus,” Hart said. “Now I’m a senior, and we can dance.”