Joy Prom brings rite of passage to people with disabilities

Most prom-goers don’t have hundreds of people screaming and cheering their names while walking down a red carpet — but at UNC’s Joy Prom, more than 100 people with disabilities got this VIP treatment.

Three hundred UNC students volunteered for the event hosted by the Best Buddies program and Pi Kappa Phi fraternity in the Great Hall on Thursday night.

Senior Alec Dragelin created the event as a special night for people with disabilties from the Triangle area.

“We spend our entire life focused on ourselves,” Dragelin said. “For one night, the entire focus of every single volunteer is off of themselves and onto the guest.”

Guests were partnered with volunteers for the night. Along with dancing to a disc jockey and performances by a cappella groups, guests could go a photo booth, get their shoes shined and decorate themselves at a glitter table.

Laurel Keefer, a member of Best Buddies, said the event was tough to organize because of communication difficulties with the group homes and transporting the guests to UNC. She said prom is important because many of the guests never had the opportunity to attend prom in high school.

“Part of being an American is going to prom. It’s sort of a rite of passage,” Keefer said. “It’s just a way to give them that special opportunity to go to prom and have a special night where they may not feel alienated but feel welcome.”

Best Buddies is a Campus Y program that connects students with disabled members of the Chapel Hill community.

Sophomore Emily Morton said Joy Prom is changing the way UNC views people with disabilities because so many more students outside of Best Buddies program are involved.

“Sometimes the biggest problem bringing people with disabilities to campus is that they are often stared at because they walk funny, scream or can’t talk, and have different learning disabiliites and handicaps that prevent them from being a part of society,” Morton said. “Events like this that get everyone together and to have fun really breaks down the stigma.”

Dragelin first proposed Joy Prom during his Mr. UNC candidacy, inspired by the annual Joy Prom at his church in Charlotte. His church’s student ministry put on its first Joy Prom about 10 years ago; now, the event attracts 1,500 people. It’s so big it runs over two consecutive nights.

“When I first got involved in middle school, I didn’t realize the impact it would have on my life,” Dragelin said. “I had never worked with people with disabilities, and it really changed the outlook I had on life.”

Dragelin said the idea for Joy Prom came from a Bible verse in which Jesus discourages the guests from inviting the rich to a banquet.

Instead he asks them to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind — and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid.

“Even though we are throwing this party, we are not doing it to be repaid. We are doing it out of love,” Dragelin said.

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