The winter Women Pay All dance has been a bust for the past couple years. The dance used to be a more formal affair, but within the past couple years it has become a casual mixer. The reason Homecoming has such a big turnout every year is because there is a spirit week for it, a pep assembly the Friday before and a whole night devoted to the dance. WPA used to be the exact same way, and people would go if it was just as big of an event as the fall Homecoming.

Initially, the administration changed the dance rules so it was more cost effective for students who couldn’t afford Homecoming and Prom. However, there are other ways to make WPA cost effective without taking the formal aspect dance away.

If there was a hype built up with the WPA dance with a spirit week and theme, the attendance of the event would benefit. If people were aware of the dance and made a point of making the date, there is no reason why it wouldn’t be as good as Prom and Homecoming.

If you don’t want to pony up the money for a new dress, there is no rule saying you can’t borrow or exchange dresses with your friends. Also, WPA takes place after Homecoming but before prom dresses are put on the racks, so Homecoming dresses are typically on sale in most stores, so you can save money that way.

For dinner, someone in your group could host the meal at their house. If it’s not that big of a deal for you and your group, you could even order a pizza or pick up a take-and-bake from Papa Murphy’s.

If WPA is made formal again, with some minor changes that will have significant expense benefits, there would be more of a crowd and it would have just as great of a turnout as Homecoming and Prom.