By Rachel Deodato

Over 500 members of High Point University’s Class of 2022 gathered at the High Point Country Club on Saturday, March 19 to celebrate the Onyx Ball, q long-standing tradition for seniors at HPU.

The Onyx Ball is the first of many traditions that seniors get to be a part of before they graduate in May.

Dalton Lucas, the senior class president, said, “It’s a time where seniors can get together for one of our last times before we graduate and celebrate all of our accomplishments the past 4 years.”

Seniors were provided free transportation from campus to the venue in the university’s newest coach buses. Once students arrived at the venue, they were welcomed by their senior officers: Dalton Lucas, Al Dean Jr., Zoe Ganis and Alana Sullivan.

The seniors were provided a large selection of food to choose from and a full bar to drink from for those that were over 21.

This year’s Onyx Ball is special because this is the first Onyx Ball that the university was able to hold in person in over three years due to COVID-19.

Emmy Beck-Aden, vice president for the Student Government Association, was excited to come back to the festivities.

“It’s really exciting to just be back in this environment with our class, especially after having multiple years where COVID-19 has affected what we have been able to do as far as social events,” said Beck-Aden. “It’s really cool to see the tradition come back to life.”

Onyx is a stone that is said to offer powerful vibrations of protection, willpower, focus and strength. Many use this stone to promote motivation and to continuously push you forward in life. For seniors, the Onyx Ball is a reminder to push through the rest of the semester with a strong finish.

As of now, the senior traditions are just getting started for the class of 2022.

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Rachel Deodato is a senior at High Point University majoring in Journalism. For contact inquiries, please email rdeodato@highpoint.edu.