Students danced all night in a seemingly silent room at the Inter-Residence Council’s fifth annual Silent Disco Friday night in Carmichael Gymnasium.
The disco cost a total of $21,000 for the IRC, and $17,000 of that money was spent on the 1,500 pairs of headphones required for the event. The remaining money went toward lighting and decorations for the event, as well as supplies needed for making and distributing non-alcoholic cocktails known as mocktails.
IRC’s funding comes from residents of University Housing. A $12 fee is included in residents’ bills, and $8 of it goes straight to IRC funding. This money is used for all of IRC’s events during the year, which are always open and free for NC State students.
The Silent Disco has become a traditional Wolfpack Welcome Week event, an opportunity for incoming freshmen and new students to socialize and meet new people after the first few days of classes.
Last year, more than 1,000 students entered the disco in the first five minutes, and this year, IRC anticipated 2,000 to 2,500 rotating attendants between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m., according to Chris Becker, IRC president and a senior in philosophy.
The event draws its name from the headphones participants wear, which can be tuned to one of three radio station channels, each with its own distinctive musical style. The three channels are controlled by different DJs who manage the stations throughout the event. The disco was silent to observers who were not wearing the special headphones.
Each DJ had his or her own set that played a unique musical genre for the entirety of the event. The channels were electronic, top-40 and hip-hop.
Volunteers handed out the headphones to listeners, and students returned them when they left the disco. The headphones were then cleaned and handed out to new participants, which allowed for a rotating group of attendants.
Although the disco is advertised as being silent, there was plenty of noise as residents chatted with one another, ordered mocktails and sang along to different songs on the radio stations.
Becker said IRC began planning for the event in May.
“We have 50 amazing volunteers made up of students, administrators, and professional staff that have helped plan and run the event,” Becker said.
An executive board of seven people was in charge of planning the event, which involved renting headphones and organizing lighting for the spacious basketball courts in Carmichael Gym.
Volunteers were tasked with setting up the event, which included preparing mocktails, laying down tarps in the basketball courts and headphone maintenance.
Kelsey Strout, a student volunteer and senior in biological science, said she has been attending the Silent Disco since her first year at NC State.
“I love it,” Strout said. “I’m a junior, and I’ve been going since my freshman year. It gets bigger every year!”
Historically the event has been targeted to freshmen, but students of all ages were allowed into the venue. The event was listed on the Wolfpack Welcome Week smartphone app, Guidebook, which is primarily used by incoming freshmen and new students.
“For a lot of freshmen, this is their first big event at NC State,” said Ethan Smith, a senior in chemical engineering and an RA for the Avent Ferry Complex. “I’m here with my residents as part of a hall activity. We really want to encourage them to have some fun. So far, it’s looking pretty good.”
