Three student groups on campus are teaming up to organize what they hope will be the largest Silent Disco in the United States to date.

Part of what the IRC hopes will be a new phase for the organization, the Silent Disco represents a larger and more elaborate undertaking than any the IRC has attempted before.   Kris Gower, resident advisor and junior in international studies, who is in charge of the IRC’s Silent Disco project, said the event is part of IRC President Kyle Winters’ new mission to rebrand the organization with a much more enthusiastic theme. ”We wanted to say, we can be bigger and better than you think we can,” Gower said. The Silent Disco also represents Winters’ policy of promoting increased cooperation between student organizations, an effort IRC feels made this event much more plausible. ”We really want to be working with other people,” Gower said. “We couldn’t make this program happen without receiving support from these other organizations.” According to Gower, the other organizations participating in the event include the Union Activities Board and the Student Government, both of which have contributed greatly to the effort, Gower said. Student Government will provide glow sticks at the event, while GLBT Community Alliance will provide glow-in-the-dark face paint. Gower said she got the idea for the event while on a trip to London in January, where she attended a Silent Disco. She said the event stuck with her as a novel way to have fun, and when the IRC began brainstorming ideas, it was the first thing to come to her mind. According to Gower, the idea started as almost a joke because of its complexity and only later gained steam under Winters’ direction. In addition to demonstrating IRC’s new face, Gower said the organization hopes the event will provide students with safe, alcohol-free entertainment. According to Gower, silent discos operate under the principle that each individual receives a set of wireless headphones when he or she walks in. Two DJs will be present in the room, each broadcasting on a separate FM frequency, allowing audience members to switch channels, and therefore DJs, on their headphones at will.  ”If you don’t like what one DJ is playing, you can switch to the other DJ,” Gower said. “You get to experience music as a group, but on a very individual level.” DJs for the event will are Beat Transformers and Doubleclick. The event will be made possible by Silent Events Inc., a Memphis, Tenn.-based company that specializes in similar events.  Gower said she expects more than 400 people to attend the event, although the IRC distributed 750 of 850 tickets. The last 100 tickets will be distributed at the door. Gower said she would have liked to include more people, but the contract with officials at Talley Student Center limited her to 850. If 750 people show up, the event will become the largest Silent Disco in the U.S. to date, Gower said. The only requirement for students coming to the event, according to Gower, is to bring a valid student ID and their ticket.  ”We are really excited and we are very appreciative of the support…we couldn’t have made this happen by ourselves,” Gower said. “Next year, I want it bigger and better.”