[media-credit name=”Contributed by Jaclyn Consoli” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]

Residence Hall Council (RHC) and QU After Dark (QUAD) are proud to present another annual Foam Dome event.

The event will be held this Friday, April 21 from 9 p.m. to midnight. Foam Dome will take place on the basketball court near New Village. The event is open and free to all students.

RHC is co-sponsoring the event with Freshman Year Residential Experience (FYRE) and the Sophomore Year Experience (SYE). QUAD is also heavily involved in the planning and execution of the event.

Senior marketing major Jaclyn Consoli is part of RHC. Brian Goepfrich and David Ferguson are residence hall directors that are helping to run Foam Dome this year as well. For the past couple years, they have helped with advertisements. Goepfrich and Ferguson act as liaisons between the RAs and RHDs and QUAD. According to Consoli, it has been a constant partnership.

“Foam Dome is an opportunity for the students who want to stay on campus to enjoy one of the last weekends here,” Consoli said. “We always try to put it towards the end of the semester, so it’s kind of like a final event to go to, and they have one of the QU students to DJ.”

According to Consoli, more students attend Foam Dome every year. They are projecting about 500 students to attend this weekend.

Emily Eichholtz, a freshman sociology major, is attending Foam Dome for the first time this year. She said she is going because it looks like fun and she has heard great things about the event.

“This is the first event I am attending hosted by SPB or QU After Dark. I expect Foam Dome to be a fun time with loud music and good vibes,” she said.

This year, QUAD, RHC and other organizations will be giving out more free prizes and gifts, according to Consoli.

“We rent out a tent and they have the foam that comes as well and free food,” Consoli said. “RHC  will be giving out free swag. A lot of the organizations will be giving out free gifts. It’s just a nice way for them to stay on campus and to have a safe alternative to what they would normally be doing. RHC will be giving out a free swag item that will be announced that day and given to the first 100 students to show up to Foam Dome.”

Refreshments including pizza and popcorn will also be served at the event. RHC just released a promotional video.

“Foam Dome is convenient and fun,” Consoli said. “We have a great DJ, and it’s really entertaining for the students. It’s a great way not to spend money but still have a great time on campus. For those students who normally go to the events put on by SPB and QUAD, this is a larger scale event that QUAD is helping to put on. It’s all about the convenience of having an event that is really really fun and free. It’s nice to just walk from your residence hall to the event.”

Although some students had concerns about the safety and cleanliness of the foam last year, Consoli set the record straight.

“It’s important to know that we reach out to a company to provide the foam. It’s not just Residential Life grabbing this foam from Party City and putting it in there,” Consoli said. “So this is foam that the company uses for large scale events, and everything is super regulated. And the company sets it all up. RHC doesn’t just let the soap go wild. I understand that concern but the company that does it specializes in this. The foam is safe and clean.”

Amanda Evans, a sophomore criminal justice major, attended Foam Dome last year. Although she said she enjoyed it, but she had some suggestions for this year.

“I had a good time at Foam Dome last year,” she said. “It was convenient that they handed out pouches to keep phones from getting wet. My favorite part about the event was the music. My least favorite part about the event was that it was very cold out the night they decided to have it, the weather made the night rather uncomfortable.”

She said it would be an improvement to hold it as close to the end of the year as possible, so that it is not so cold.

“Also, I know some students who got allergic reactions from the soap that was used to create the foam so maybe that is something that could be looked into,” Evans said. “Also I don’t know if this would be possible, but maybe having small towels to hand out for people to dry off.”