Formative Years Revisited at Smiley '80s
By Jacqueline Mark
Staff Writer

Anyone who just happened to stroll through Smith Campus Center last Saturday might have thought they'd landed in the middle of a time-warp, circa 1987. Teased hair, side ponytails and stonewashed jeans were once again at the height of fashion as students donned '80s throwbacks and rocked classic hairstyles such as the mullet and Flock of Seagulls. The Campus Center's high stone ceilings echoed with the squeals of excited students and strains of Soft Cell's "Tainted Love."

What was the occasion? Pomona's second-largest party of the year, the chance to celebrate the decade of our birth - SMILEY '80s! Over 1,000 students from the five colleges came out to "Remember the Eighties," an era outdated but never overrated.

To kick off the festivities, Robin William's memorable comedy-drama Good Morning Vietnam was screened Saturday night in Rose Hills Theater. While not your classic '80s flick (think Girls Just Wanna Have Fun or The Breakfast Club), Good Morning Vietnam was made in the '80s, and as advertised in the Digester, it did at least take us all back to a time "when Robin Williams was still funny." After the movie, students returned to their rooms to throw on various '80s threads and hit the pre-party scene. Then from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., the ballroom was the place to be.

After students navigated the entrance lines (an organizational success compared to last year's party) and turned the corner to the ballroom (picking up an ever-popular slap bracelet on the way) they encountered an '80s Mecca. Just outside the ballroom doorway, clustered groups of friends tried their own luck at stardom with a karaoke machine blasting popular '80s tunes.

Inside the ballroom itself, the cover band '80s Enough rocked classics such as "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Come On Eileen" to the growing throng of energetic dancers (and moshers). Just one look inside the crowded ballroom proved the success of Smiley '80s, a favorite Pomona tradition that has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a dorm party in Smiley Lounge.

By around 11:45 p.m., the party had become so popular that issues with crowd-control seemed inevitable. CCLA organizers stopped selling tickets at midnight to cut down the number of new students entering, but the ballroom soon reached its full capacity of 900 people.

Originally, Campus Safety had hoped to continue admitting students into the ballroom whenever other party-goers exited, but owing either to a Campus Safety miscommunication or uncooperative students at the entrances, security officials refused to let even paid-ticket holders return to the event. Students who had left the dance floor for a breath of fresh air were restrained at the stairway or the Campus Center entrances, within full view or tantalizing earshot of the continuing party in the ballroom. At this point of the evening, Billy Idol's "Dancing with Myself" might have seemed a more appropriate '80s theme song for many party-goers than anything covered by the band inside.

Despite the unfortunate crowd-control situation, most students considered Smiley '80s 2003 to be a definite "like, omigod!" success. CCLA member Erin Carter reports that this year's party earned the organization $2,000 profit, money that will fund other CCLA parties such as the upcoming Spring Formal. In addition, CCLA (the diligent party-planners that they are!) has already discussed future plans and ticket-sales options for next year's Smiley '80s. Possible suggestions include offering pre-sale tickets only to Pomona students (an estimated half of the party-goers this year were non-Pomona students), decreasing the number of guests eligible to attend, and scheduling Smiley '80s so that it doesn't conflict with Prospective Student weekends at other schools, as occurred with Claremont McKenna this year.