On Oct. 11, Rowan After Hours (RAH) hosted a silent party in collaboration with the Black Cultural League (BCL) in the Eynon Ballroom at the Chamberlain Student Center. 

As the trend of silent parties makes its way to Rowan’s campus, students are eager to participate in the experience. 

“I saw it in the student center,” said Freshman, Zaria James, sharing how she discovered this event. 

After checking in with RAH, the BCL greeted guests with lollipops and smiles. They were then directed to a table where they were given headphones that lit up different colors.

The headphones were programmed with 3 different channels, each corresponding to a different DJ and color. Attendees could choose which DJ they wanted to listen to and flip back and forth between the different channels as the night progressed. 

Some attendees even brought their own headphones and listened to music from their phones.

The only way you could tell what someone was listening to was by looking at the color of their headphones. You could be listening to a completely different song than your friend, but you could still match each other’s energy. 

“I feel like it’s interesting to see different perspectives of what gets people hyped because you don’t know what they’re listening to unless you look at the color of their headphones,” said Chelsea Sure, a freshman here at Rowan. 

The ballroom was decorated with balloons and strobe lights to enhance the guest’s party experience. Guests were also provided with oversized glow sticks to take home with them. 

Everyone switched their headphones to the green channel to dance to “Wobble” by V.I.C. together. Later, everyone switched to the same channel again to listen to “Before I Let Go” by Frankie Beverly and Maze to join together in performing the Electric Slide. 

If you were on the channel listening to “My Dawg” by Lil Baby, you might have been confused as to why everyone was running around in a circle. That’s because everyone switched to the same channel a final time to listen to “Follow the Leader” by The Soca Boys. 

RAH staff walked around the ballroom with a portable photo booth, taking pictures of people with their friends to keep the night in their memories. 

Refreshments such as water and lemonade were provided. At 11 p.m. a dinner of chicken tenders, fries, and cupcakes was served. 

If guests needed a break from all the dancing and the loud headphones, they could head over to one of the classrooms in the student center and enjoy making glow-in-the-dark slime. 

Socializing at a silent party can be challenging. It’s harder to hear and you and another person might not be on the same page due to the different channels on the headphones. 

“I would rather have one DJ that plays songs for everybody because it feels more inclusive,” said Sure.

Overall, RAH and the BCL provided students with a unique experience and a different perspective on parties. If you’re not a partier, a silent party could be an interesting experience for you to give it a shot.

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