Last Saturday, the Disabled Student Association (DSA) and the Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) collaborated to host the College’s first Silent Disco. With disco lights, balloons and a photo booth, the organizers transformed Smith Union into a dance floor.

The idea for the event arose as a way to make parties more inclusive, BSG Chair of Diversity and Inclusion Claire Shim ’28 explained in an email to the Orient.

“The silent disco idea came up last fall in the Diversity and Inclusion committee as something that we wanted to do as an alternative way of having fun—being able to dance and enjoy music, but also being able to get away from the noise by just taking off your headphones,” Shim wrote.

While central to the social lives of many Bowdoin students, the typical college party is not accessible to all. DSA leader Libby Riggs ’26 described how Bowdoin’s party culture can exclude certain students and illustrated how the Silent Disco addresses these issues.

“When I think about it, it’s mostly basement parties where it’s very crowded. There’s a lot of noise…. I think that this responds to that by making a space where people can adjust their environment,” Riggs said.

No loudspeakers were involved in Saturday’s event. Instead, students at the Silent Disco donned wireless headphones equipped with multiple channels of music. Riggs emphasized how the provided headphones allowed partygoers to customize their disco experiences to their needs and preferences.

“The headphones are really cool because you can switch the channels so you can listen to different music,” Riggs said. “You can also adjust the volume…. By having these headphones…, you can really have fun in your own way.”

Riggs explained how gratifying it was to bring fellow students’ dreams of a silent disco to life.

“I think the event’s biggest successes were just people coming together,” Riggs said. “Even when there weren’t a lot of people there at the beginning, everyone was dancing and having so much fun.”

One attendee, Gabe Marra-Perrault ’28, expressed appreciation for the unique event, highlighting the quality of the music selection.

“I thought the music choices were fantastic, and having a photo booth was super fun. It’s nice to have a variety of options for things to do on campus,” Marra-Perrault said.

Students who were not able to attend Saturday’s programming may be in luck for next year. Riggs noted that the DSA and BSG hope to make the Silent Disco an annual event.

Claire Shim ’28 is a member of The Bowdoin Orient.