NIU’s annual Holiday Ball for faculty and staff is scheduled for Dec.9 at 9 p.m. and will be held in the Duke Ellington Ballroom at the Holmes Student Center.

The event, which is sponsored by the University Women’s Club, will feature music by Dee Palmer and the Shananigans. The ball is a non-formal event with no dinner included, but it does include dancing and fraternizing.

Ball Co-chairwoman Audrey Banovetz said that all faculty, including retirees, are invited to attend.

The women’s club sponsored its first dance in 1974. In 1959 through 1971, the organization was known as the Dames Club and held Christmas parties for the faculty as an afternoon event. However, as the event grew larger, it evolved into a dance and in 1971, the club changed its name to its present title.