The smell of fresh rain and loud music engulfed De Anza’s cafeteria on a Friday night. Tonight wasn’t a regular night. Tonight, hundreds of students’ dreams came true as they were the first group to join the first-ever De Anza Homecoming dance.

The dance was held on Nov. 17 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., with more than 320 students in attendance. De Anza kicked off the beginning of their Homecoming tradition with help from the Inter-Club Council, President Lloyd Holmes and the Office of College Life.

The students of De Anza enjoyed a costless night with fully equipped food and drinks, a rotating camera for pictures, two DJs, raffles, and a caricature artist.

Hyon Chu Yi-Baker, director of College Life and conduct officer, said the organizers wanted to emphasize college involvement among students and unite communities.

“We’re hoping students will be able to take away from this experience and realize how much they love to be at De Anza,” Yi-Baker said. “(De Anza) allows them to connect and meet other students.”

The COVID-19 pandemic turned campuses everywhere into ghost towns.

As more students continued to return to De Anza post-pandemic, the importance of bringing people together became inevitable, Yi-Baker said.

Dana Sensi, 19, electrical and computer engineering major and ICC chair of programs said that ICC noticed the disconnect on campus and decided to do something about it.

“Usually, colleges have all these events and community colleges don’t. Everyone is isolated; there’s not much sense of community,” Sensi said. “Our goal was really to get everyone together and bring life back on campus.”

ICC pitched the idea of having a Homecoming event to DASG and was successfully granted $10,000. The ICC then brought up the idea to President Holmes and he said he wanted to make it successful so he matched the ICC with another $10,000.

“I was immediately thrilled. (The ICC and I) wanted to make certain it was successful,” Holmes said. “For me, it’s important to use those funds to support student activities.”

Sabrina Kulieva, 19, undecided major, said she had a memorable experience at homecoming.

“Since it’s my first quarter at De Anza, I was scared that I wouldn’t find friends. As time passed, I noticed there were a lot of friendly and interesting people around,” Kulieva said. “I made several useful and meaningful connections that evening.”