Glamming and Glowing to Go to Ebony Ball
By Rebecca Goldfine
Per tradition, the annual Ebony Ball brought out serious dazzle in students. This year, the Center for Multicultural Life also hosted a pre-ball barbershop and beauty salon to help students really shine.
One of highlights of Black History Month at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾ every year is the Ebony Ball, which took place in Moulton Union on February 22. The student organizers chose “royalty” to guide this year’s theme.
“It is a celebration of both the ancestors who came before us who got us to this place, and also the royalty with which we all can walk through life,” said Jasmine Ross ’14, interim director of the Center for Multicultural Life.
Leading up to the late-night event, Ross and eight students ran a pop-up “Glam and Glow” salon and barbershop in Ladd House. The team provided the full array of services from nails to hair—cutting, trimming, and braiding—all free of charge for both walk-ins and those who made appointments.
Historically, Black students at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾ have found it difficult to find local businesses that know how to work with Black people’s hair, Ross noted. So the pop-up was pragmatic, but it was also festive, with games, snacks, and raffle prizes, in a space that was transformed to be “cozy and give off barbershop energy,” she said.
“It is a celebration of both the ancestors who came before us who got us to this place, and also the royalty with which we all can walk through life,” said Jasmine Ross ’14, interim director of the Center for Multicultural Life.
Leading up to the late-night event, Ross and eight students ran a pop-up “Glam and Glow” salon and barbershop in Ladd House. The team provided the full array of services from nails to hair—cutting, trimming, and braiding—all free of charge for both walk-ins and those who made appointments.
Historically, Black students at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾ have found it difficult to find local businesses that know how to work with Black people’s hair, Ross noted. So the pop-up was pragmatic, but it was also festive, with games, snacks, and raffle prizes, in a space that was transformed to be “cozy and give off barbershop energy,” she said.
Photos by Michele Stapleton.
Published