The night of September 21st played host to Dawson’s annual homecoming dance. With a theme of Cloud Nine, the music was loud, the CU buffs game was on, it was a lively night; the school spirit was so thick in the air you could practically see it. This homecoming was one of many firsts for Dawson, using the dining commons as a venue, having a new DJ, and being on the coldest and wettest night in months. The dance was received in a variety of ways by people, some thinking it was a huge step in the right direction, while others think it could have done a lot better.
This year’s homecoming took place in a tent outside of the dining commons, where students could move freely between the two areas, a venue not used in over 5 years. “I thought it was a nice venue, definitely better than previous years” Said Shelton Johnson (’26). The drawbacks of this space were that the students were much more spread out and importantly much more exposed to the weather. Many students expressed criticism of this, especially compared to the previous venue, “They really had the perfect venue and then decided to move it into a wet stinky tent” – Jake Slater (’27).
In addition to this new venue, Dawson’s town council made an effort to guarantee a good DJ after heavy criticism in previous years. With this DJ’s enormous experience and flashy credentials, many students were left impressed with his skills, Luca Wolf-Scala (’25) praised him saying “I thought he played pretty good songs, he might have messed up a few times vibe-wise, but the song choice was solid.” Even with a positive reception from the student body, the new DJ still has experienced some criticism. Town council representative Bella Stewart (’27) said, “The song choice was definitely the best l’ve seen at a Dawson homecoming, but the song transitions left a lot to be desired.”
The final major change was the decision to show the CU buffs game, a decision that anyone at the dance could tell was one received overwhelmingly positively. The addition of the buffs game, coupled with the rain keeping people inside, had spirits on a high. Declan Noonan was one of the people finding themselves enjoying the buffs game. He praised having it at homecoming and spoke about how it’s inspired students to attempt to replicate the success telling us “I thought the buffs game was an awesome thing, we’re actually trying to plan a watch party for a game two weeks from now.”