On Monday night, USF St. Petersburg students, faculty, and staff attempted to break a stunning record: the world’s largest Soul Train. With the excitement of homecoming week, a large portion of the USFSP community arrived at Harbor Walk to contribute to the massive 1970s dance routine.
The dance was made popular by 1970s television show, “Soul Train,” which featured a line of young performers dancing in pairs past two lines of fellow dancers. The current record for participants in the Soul Train dance consisted of 291 participants and took three and a half hours to complete.
“I’m hoping we’ll get close to the record,” said Dean Nixon, a member of student government. “I’m guessing we’ll get up to around 175, which is still a big group of people.”
Before the train left the station, Student Body President Cody Boyer gave a speech that welcomed the USFSP Bulls to the kickoff of Homecoming Week and addressed festivities and upcoming events. Students were encouraged to rub the horns on the Bull statue’s head for good luck.
In an attempt to recruit as many people as possible, SG members hyped up the crowd and offered Chick-Fil-A nuggets as an incentive. At 5:30 p.m., everyone gathered at the front of the University Student Center and made two lines. As ’70s hits blared, the USFSP Soul Train made its way down the tracks.
The dance lasted about 10 minutes and was made up of more than150 people. While the Soul Train was about 140 participants shy of breaking the record, dancers received a pin reading “We broke a world record and I have a button to prove it.”
“Trying to get more than 291 people to come was a challenge,” said Juan Salazar, who coordinated the Soul Train event. “We pretty much just used social media to market the event, but I feel like we could have gotten more people if we would have gone out and talked to people about it in person. All in all, it was a good event and a learning experience.”
“I didn’t think we were going to break the record,” said Matt Legac, a student participant, “but the fact that so many people showed up is nice, and it was a good time.”
The verdict was a giant Soul Train that may not have broken any record, but did show that school spirit here at USFSP is as strong as ever. Or at least their appetites were.
Students then headed to the lawn and lined up for chicken, cake, and soda, seemingly attempting to shatter another record: longest line for free food.
