St. A's brightens the mood with a nostalgic party theme

Rainbows, ponies and kittens, oh my! Is it the Wizard of Oz on drugs? No, it’s St. Anthony Hall’s Lisa Frank-themed party, taking place Saturday night.

Diverse, creative and eccentric are just a few of the words to describe the St. Anthony Hall co-ed fraternity. And for $3 with your OneCard ($4 if you’re not a UNC student), you can join them and party your head off. There will be three live bands upstairs: Hostile Merger, Lord Bendtner, and People of Earth. Swerve writer Jacquelyn Melinek spoke with Rachel Blythe, a junior and member of the party planning committee, ahead of the event.

The Daily Tar Heel: Does everyone have a say in the events — how do you go about picking the themes?

Rachel Blythe: The theme is usually decided amongst the party planning committee, and then we present that theme to the rest of the chapter. Like obviously don’t make it offensive and make it easily decorate-able.

DTH: How do your members react to the themes?

RB: Recently we have been making the invites on Facebook, and thats how the rest of the chapter knows. I usually gauge the water beforehand, like how do y'all think about this theme or this theme? And after I gauge how the rest of the chapter likes the party themes we usually stay on the one we like the most. I thought of Lisa Frank before, and I played around with a few other ideas and no one was really lit about that idea. And I was talking about Lisa Frank and everyone was immediately interested and planning what they’re going to wear.

DTH: What trends have you found to exist within your social events?

RB: Last semester the parties were pretty dark. We had "Deathgasm" and "Little House Party on the Prairie." This one is really the first one that is bright and colorful. Even alumni of St. A's are so excited we are throwing this most crazy and colorful party that we could.

DTH: What do you believe has been the best theme yet or what were ones you were proud of?

RB: I think the best theme the hall has had was, back when I wasn’t a member. It was a comic book party called "Graphic Content" and it was all comic book themed and the decorations were so amazing, so I was like this place is awesome.

DTH: How do you decorate for the party?

RB: We usually take the entire day — the day of the party — and spend most of the day decorating for the party. This semester we are trying to have three open parties, that everyone on UNC’s campus can come out and have a good time.

DTH: As the party planner what do you find most difficult?

RB: Theres a lot of difficult things about this, it's like I’m trying to plan a party for 500 people with a team of three. It’s difficult to get it all done in time. The second most stressful thing is the day of the party. I turn into a partyzilla but once the party starts, everyone has a great time so that's what matters. We strive for everyone to feel comfortable and as safe as possible, while still having a great time.

DTH: Any upcoming events you’ve planned that you’re excited about and willing to share?

RB: We have rush events going on this week, so we can induct our new members. And it's really beautiful to let people into our family. It’s been going on last week, this week, and next week.

@jacquiemel

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