Spectrum dresses for the occasion in ‘Dress to Impress’

By Sofia Santiago

Students gathered in Lynch Adler Hall Room 127 on Oct. 29 to attend the weekly Spectrum club meeting, this time with a Halloween twist. 

For an hour, the room went through intervals of silence, followed by loud cheers. The reason for these intense volume shifts: the hit Roblox game Dress to Impress.

Club regulars and newcomers alike partook in the evening’s activity while dressed in spooky costumes. After candy had been distributed around the room and everyone’s electronic devices were booted and running, the competition began.

In the game, players have a limited amount of time to walk around the enormous walk-in closet-like space and pick out different pieces of clothing, with the goal of forming an outfit that matches the chosen theme of each round. 

Eden Nadella, junior political science major and vice president of Spectrum, explained how the idea for this meeting was chosen over the summer during an executive board meeting and what the process of planning club meetings looks like.

“We set up our events relatively a few months in advance, so that way we can already have an itinerary and not really worry about what we have to do. So we figured, since we want to do more activity-based meetings, we figured to just leave it for around Halloween.”

Nadella also looks at the attendance of each meeting and tracks it on a graph to see which activities and meetings do well. 

Some of Spectrum’s most successful events were Drag Queen Mafia, a card game similar to Mafia in which players are given roles and must deduce who the outlier in the group is, and an Open Mic Night that was a collaboration with the Rider Poets. 

The virtual fashion show resulted in a significant amount of turnout. 

Ella Hess-Sallach, sophomore secondary education major and secretary of Spectrum, commented on her time during the event. 

“It was really nice. We figured out how to do the server, and we could all play together. It was fun. It was cool to see everyone’s different ideas,” Hess-Sallach said. “It was an awesome opportunity for people to get to know each other a little more, so it was a good way for people to connect.” 

As a new player, Hess-Sallach had no issues learning how to play. First, Nadella set up a private server of the game so that the whole club could play together without any random interruptions. 

Then, players were given a theme, such as doctor, Halloween or doll, and a set amount of time to get dressed to fit the theme.

 At the end, everyone’s outfits were shown off and voted on by others as the virtual characters strutted down a catwalk. 

The top three with the most votes were crowned at the end of each round.

This was entertaining for those participating in the competition, but also allowed members who did not have Roblox or simply did not want to play the game, to watch and encourage their friends.

Kai Samad, junior graphic design major and club regular, said even though he did not participate, it was still a fun time. Samad remarked how this was one of his favorite things about the club. 

Hess-Sallach agreed and said, “At Spectrum, everyone is included. And I think we celebrate individuality and creativity a lot. I think there are two things that are shown throughout [Dress to Impress]and it’s just a fun game… we just want to make a very comfortable, welcoming environment.”