Since its conception in 2014 with a two-year absence during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, New Prom has been an annual tradition for Novos. Usually held in College Hall, this themed event is a chance for students to dress up and dance the night away. For the 2024 iteration of the event, first-year Lane Hagan is leading event planning for an Ancient Greek-themed New Prom.
Hagan currently works in the Student Activities and Campus Engagement (SAuCE) office as a Traditions Coordinator. New Prom will be their first event on campus, but they aren’t new to the world of event planning. Hagan shared their vision for the prom in an email interview with the Catalyst.
“I have experience with event planning from high school,” Hagan said. “I was class secretary for two years and planned prom and a few fundraisers with a team of other students, so my experience from there is kinda exactly what I’m doing here. I really enjoyed doing it then and thought it would be fun to do it again for NCF.”
From masquerade to Disney’s Tangled, New College prom themes are an important part of the event. When the Catalyst asked Hagan how they thought of this year’s theme, they were happy to explain.
“I am doing an Ancient Greece theme with some mythology ties. I was just going through Pinterest and I love the marble statues so I get a lot of those on my feed -so when I saw them I was drawn in immediately. I want a lot of gold and fruit everywhere with a kind of ethereal vibe. When I did prom before I really loved making it fancy and formal so I wanted to do a classy event with a theme people would want to dress up for.”
Hagan also opened up about some difficulties they were experiencing while working on this project. “The event location is kind of a difficult topic because traditionally prom is held in College Hall but this year it’s unavailable,” they said. The Catalyst is looking further into this.
Hagan’s vision is somewhere by the water and has plenty of trees. After looking into a few alternative locations, they have now confirmed that New Prom will be held on the Bayfront, including Cook Hall’s and College Hall’s enclosed patio areas.
Hagan wants to assure students they won’t let location issues deter them from organizing a memorable night. “The location is out of my hands, but we have a lot of plan B’s so it’s happening regardless.”
Hagan can’t wait for students to attend New Prom and see the hard work they’ve put into it. “The best part about hosting an event is seeing the public’s reactions and having people enjoy what you’ve spent months working on,” they told the Catalyst.
“It’ll also be my first event here at New College so I’m excited for just having an event in general and being able to graduate and say I did something.”
To keep up with updates on New Prom and other events on campus, be sure to check Novoconnect, the Corq app and @ncfstudentactivities on Instagram.