College can be downright stressful. But one night of crazy fun can be the best kind of medicine for stress.
On the night of Friday, Oct. 24, hundreds of students gathered in the lower level of Allen Arena West parking garage for just that.
Paint the Herd is put on by the Student Government Association every year at the end of October and is essentially a paint dance party. For a $5 fee, students gear up in plastic jumpsuits and dance in a tarp-lined space while strobe lights flash and paint is shot at them from water guns.
“I was a little apprehensive about coming tonight,” said freshman Ellory Overcast as she walked down the stairs to lower level. “But everyone told me it’s something to do at least once while I am here.”
Paint the Herd is, without a doubt, a unique experience. The Lipscomb community dances together regardless of friend groups, appearances are completely disregarded and everyone emerges looking like a Jackson Pollock painting.
Students said the event was also a great way to see acquaintances in a whole new light.
“Seeing people outside of class is totally different from seeing them at Paint the Herd,” freshman Hannah Fox said. “It’s so weird to see someone I sit across from in one of my classes go completely insane on the dance floor.”
Freshman Leslie Giles would have to agree.
“There’s this one girl in my math class who is always so polite and quiet, and I barely even recognized her tonight,” Giles said.
Most of the night’s attendees didn’t leave until the event came to an end at 11:30 p.m.. Students walked off the dance floor tired but smiling and laughing at their rainbow-splattered faces.