Dirty 30 comes to an end
The strobe lights began to flicker, the music began to play and hundreds of students crowded into the David B. Haight Alumni Center on Friday to be a part of the last Dirty 30.
Started by Ike Bennion, a recent graduate from the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, in October 2011, the Dirty 30 is a 30-minute non-stop dance party.
There is one rule: If someone stands, they leave.
“The first 30 we had had around 30 people, but since then they have definitely grown,” Bennion said before the party. “In September we peaked at around 350 people. We’re hoping tonight’s will be even bigger than that.”
Friday night’s Dirty 30 was the only one that had an entrance fee. To get in, students had to donate one can of food or a non-perishable food item. After the dance, Sam Bennion, a senior at Logan High School, took the items to the Cache Community Food Pantry to fulfill his Eagle Scout project.
“I asked Ike if I could collect food at the 30 because I figured I could have some fun with it and still get a lot of donations,” Sam Bennion said.
Ike Bennion said he wasn’t sure if he would do another Dirty 30.
“But then we were sitting around the dinner table one night, and my brother asked me if I would, so I decided this would be the last hoorah,” he said.
When the party was over, there was a rough count of 500 cans and other non-perishable food items collected and delivered to the food pantry.
Friday was the second time a Dirty 30 was held at the Alumni Center.
“They used to be just in my garage, which had kind of a nice organic feeling to it,” Ike Bennion said. “It really was like an underground ‘Fight Club’ type thing going on. You didn’t talk about the 30. Then Jameson Olsen was nice enough to offer us this place, which gave us a bigger venue to expand into.”
Olsen, a senior double-majoring in communication studies and finance, is the Student Alumni Association President.
“We wanted to bring more attention to the Alumni Center and Ike wanted a bigger place to hold the 30s,” Olsen said. “It was a nice trade off.”
Each Dirty 30 is announced two weeks before it is set to take place and a reminder email is sent out two days before. Other than the email, the information on each of the Dirty 30s is spread strictly by the students.
“There were so many people there,” said Molly Page, a junior majoring in music. “I don’t know what people are going to do for fun anymore after it’s gone.”
Although the Dirty 30s are mostly attended by USU students, there were a few attendees from other universities as well.
“These are the best dance parties in Utah,” said BYU senior Brian Youngblut. “They’re far better than any of the BYU dances.”
The music is hand-selected by Ike Bennion with the help of his cohorts, junior nutrition major Brian Barnes, junior business major John Bennion, and Youngblut.
“We all listen to music, swap it back and forth and introduce each other to new artists,” Ike Bennion said. “Then we dig into the collections from those specific artists. We’ve gotten into some pretty obscure, rocking stuff.”
Friday night’s feature artist was DJ Diplo.
“He’s getting bigger and bigger, but he plays some beats that aren’t very typical mainstream pop, and that’s why I love him,” Ike Bennion said. “He just throws it down.”
Ike Bennion will move to Washington D.C. in the next couple of months, so his brand of the Dirty 30 has come to an end. At this time, no one has claimed to be the next Dirty 30 planner.
“It was crazy with all the lights and loud music,” said Susan Wallace, a freshman majoring in Social Work. “It was so much fun with my friends and it’s sad to think it’s the last one.”
– bec.eis@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @bestfriendbeck