Marked by the traditional custom of girls asking guys, the annual Sadie Hawkins dance is just around the corner. This year, however, the organizing officers are challenging the gendered custom.

“This year we’ve been trying to adjust the mentality of Sadie’s being just for girls to ask guys. We didn’t want that to be so gender-strict,” sophomore Social Manager Katherine Dong said. “We wanted it to be like, guys can ask guys, girls can ask girls.”

In an effort to encourage students to ask friends to the dance, Palentine’s Day will take place on Feb. 15, the day after Valentine’s Day, Dong said. It is a day specifically for friends to ask each other to Sadie’s, she said.

Sophomore Treasurer Lily Li said their goal was to expand the demographic of students the Sadie’s Ball attracts, in order to make Sadie’s an event for the whole school.

“We want to make it more inclusive,” Li said.

Other changes to Sadie’s include the addition of newer games, palm reading and tarot card reading, Dong said.The palm reading will be performed by volunteering teachers, and the tarot card reading by a student. The objective is to create engaging activities for attendees, officers said.

“We’re really amping up the games because last year they were kind of rushed and hurried, and this year we’re taking a lot more time to really improve that,” Dong said.

Officers said that they really focused on student input in choosing adjustments to make to the annual dance.

“We talked to our friends, asked them what would be an incentive for them to go, what would really make it seem interesting for them to go,” Dong said. “Every single year, we’re making little changes to make everything a bit better, a bit more welcoming.”