CARP Winter Ball To Rock the Manhattan Center

Members of the CARP Headquarters team together with CARP mascot, Mr. The Fish: Vice President V. Roomet (left), Intern Emerson Lykes (top), President Hiro Hernandez (right) and Secretary W. F. (bottom).

At this time of year, the CARP [Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles] office at HSA- UWC headquarters is typically abuzz. Young Unificationists are eagerly anticipating the upcoming CARP gala, titled “A Royal Affair.” The third annual CARP Winter Ball will be held in the Hammerstein Ballroom of the Manhattan Center on December 30, 2011. Unification Community News asked V. Roomet, Vice President of CARP and W. F., secretary of CARP to describe the current working schedule for 2011’s last week.

December 30, 2011: The Winter Ball

“The theme for the Winter Ball this year is ‘A Royal Affair,’ which I think is appropriate in light of the royal wedding that recently happened,” said Roomet. “We’ll have an opportunity to dress like the princes

and princesses that we all are, and it’s fun to juxtapose that idea of royalty with New York City. Of course, you don’t have to go out and buy some extravagant gown and tuxedo – we understand the importance of keeping a budget – but we’re encouraging people to have fun with the theme, to feel like they’re royalty for the evening and to honor themselves.

“One of the things we do plan to offer is an etiquette class and a class that teaches you how to dress in a classy way. This is really great for learning in general, because as young people in our movement climb the ladders of success, they’re going to have to go to these fancy restaurants and know what to do with all the forks on the table, etc. Beyond that, because we have a heavenly protocol in our church that promotes acting like a gentleman or a lady, this Ball will be a fun opportunity to educate our members about that protocol.

“In terms of a rough schedule, the doors for the Winter Ball open at 6:30 p.m., and the program begins at 7:00 p.m. We’re going to have a cocktail-style display of hors d’oeuvres and finger food. We had the fun idea to include ballroom dancing in the beginning of the program, consisting of just Waltz and Viennese Waltz, because those dances go with the theme ‘A Royal Affair,’ and then we’ll kick off the program and go through scholarship awards, raffles, an address from our Senior Pastor, and other little CARP tidbits that are still in the planning process. We want to include a kind of concert at the end, where we will highlight some talented young Unificationists, and then close the performances with Sonic Cult and more ballroom dancing. It’ll be an awesome evening!”

Second-generation Unificationists Kyra Moyer and Hyoyoung Lopiz showed off their ballroom dancing skills along with many others at last year’s CARP Winter Ball. This year, up to double the amount of people are expected to attend.

December 29, 2011: The Culture and Arts Symposium

“Because people are going to be traveling from all around the country, and some people from overseas, we wanted to include events other than the ball so that they could have a wonderful fun-filled weekend together with us. Therefore, the day before the ball, on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, we’ll have our Culture and Arts Symposium. At the symposium, we’re going to have different events going on at the same time

except in different rooms at the Lovin’ Life Learning Center. Meals will not be provided, but access to all the events is included in the Winter Gala ticket.”

“Each of these events is going to be within the three one-and-a-half sessions allotted for the day, from 10:30-12:00 p.m., 1:00-2:30 p.m. and 3:00-4:30 p.m.,” said Fiala. “We’ll have workshops on makeovers, song-writing, dancing, possibly even cooking, and more – we’re still in the finalizing process. But you’ll be able to move around and pick which ones you want to check out.

“One fun event will be the World Café, which is a style of discussion. We’re going to set up tables at which you can talk about a specific subject, and you’ll just sit at a table that has a topic you’re interested in, and you can listen to others or share your own thoughts. We’re going to try to make the topics relevant to what’s being talked about on campuses today.”

“On Wednesday night we will have a Junction, our young adult mid week gathering, and on Thursday night we’re going to have a slamming Open Mic featuring bands from across the country,” said Roomet. “This will give people coming in for the Winter Ball an opportunity to make the most of their extended weekend and participate in exciting Lovin’ Life Learning Center programs while they are in New York City.

“On Saturday after the Ball, most families will travel to the Unification Theological Seminary in Barrytown, NY, where our local youth ministry will organize a New Year’s Eve party as part of the winter festivities. The event will be like a family gathering. The details have yet to be decided, but we may have a treasure hunt, a yute tournament and even fireworks.”

As per the Carplife.org site, the price of Winter Ball tickets through November is $60; from December 1- 23, they are $75. Tickets at the door will be $90.

Check Out CARP’s Blog To Stay Connected!

“CARPlife.org is CARP’s main blog or website,” said Roomet. “Through the blog, we want to be able to support college students in CARP’s three areas of focus, which are nurturing a spiritual life, aspiring for academic excellence and creating a generation of peace. There’s definitely going to be “internal” content on the blog to help people develop their character and maintain their spiritual life on campus, which is a totally difference experience from maintaining a spiritual life at home when you’re with your support system and family.

“We also want to be very informative, letting people know about different events going around the country that awesome college students are organizing. Something that college students consistently tell us is that they wish there were some place they could go to learn about what other people are doing around the country through CARP or in college. So we want to be that kind of a connection and facilitate communication between college students, especially for those who are alone on campus. We’re going to use the website as a forum to highlight amazing college students and individuals around the country.

“We had another fun idea: A lot of the time our church has these big providential events, but it’s not always easily understood by the young people in our movement, so we want to serve them and translate the meaning of the event in a way our young Unificationists can feel a part of.”

“It’s about sharing,” added Fiala. “On the website, you can find out how you can get involved locally, who to contact, what is happening nationally, etc. The big goal is to help people connect. If we have any video or media, we put them up on the website to share with the nation. We’re also going to post artwork by artists from our community and create an online hub for networking and sharing formation.”

Don’t Miss Out on the Winter Ball Scholarships!

“You can find out about scholarships that CARP is offering on the website. There are a total of nine scholarships, so it’s really worth it to apply. There are the three different subjects of nurturing a spiritual life, achieving academic excellence and creating a generation of peace, and for each of the scholarships there are three prizes. First place will award $1,000, second place, $500 and third place, $250. All you have to do is write an essay of 500-1,000 words, submit your transcript, or describe activities you have organized on your campus. It doesn’t hurt to apply – think of it as a chance to share with the community what you’ve been doing and to reflect on the different ways you’ve been contributing on campus. The winners will be recognized and will receive their award at the Winter Gala. Their essays will most likely be posted on the CARP website too.”

“The deadline for submitting the essays was originally December first, but we’re most likely going to extend it another week to give people more time and more incentive to write essays,” said Roomet.

To visit CARP’s website, please visit: www.carplife.org.