Organizers said the invitation-only event is a chance for students to come together in honor of University President Michael Rao, though it is likely Rao will not be able to attend.

“The purpose is basically for us to get to know our university president as a real human being at our level — not just as an administrative figure,” said Vassar senior Nick LaPratt. “There’s more to him than just a pretty face.”

Mount Pleasant junior Glenn King said Rao may not attend because of a prior engagement, but because invitations have been mailed, the event will continue as planned in Rao’s honor.

“We got news he’s going to be in Wisconsin, unfortunately,” he said. “Hopefully, in the years to come, Rao will come and we can inform him well in advance, and looking at what happens this year, we can refine it a bit and make it better.”

The evening will be brief and will feature musical acts, refreshments, festive decor, a red carpet and about 50 to 75 students dressed in formal attire, LaPratt said.

Musical entertainment will be provided by the classical/jazz piano stylings of Mount Pleasant junior Nate Sandberg and CMU alumnus Joel Theile, who will be playing some classic 80’s songs.

“I think people are going to be here until we kick them out,” LaPratt said.

Students involved with organizing the event said they are dedicated to finding out more about Rao on a personal level and what he is like outside the university’s spotlight.

“He’s kind of an icon in a lot of ways, and he comes up a lot in our conversations,” King said. “We don’t really know him, and we just think it would be advantageous for the students to know who he is and relate to him on a day-to-day level.”

LaPratt said he had the opportunity to shake Rao’s hand at a His House Christian Fellowship banquet last year, but aside from that, has had little interaction with him.

“I met him one time when he was leaving to go to lunch outside of Warriner Hall,” he said. “I said “How are you doing President Rao?’ and he said ‘Good,’ and then we walked on our separate ways.”

LaPratt said he wants to find out more about Rao.

“He’s the president of my university and I have no idea of who he is,” he said. “I don’t know what he likes, I don’t know what his favorite color is and I don’t know whether he likes McDonalds or not. These are the types of things we want to know about our university president as a human being and as a pal.”

LaPratt and King said they would be willing to plan a similar event later in the year when Rao’s schedule permits him to attend, but the formal engagement will be an annual event.

“We’re going to do it every year,” LaPratt said. “We’ve been planning it since the beginning of the school year.”

King said he and friend Andrew Dost, Frankford junior, came up with the idea during a conversation earlier this year.

“We were talking about how we wanted to get a bunch of different people together throughout the year, and that was kind of the idea to pull a lot of different people together for a good time, good clean fun and just enjoy each others company,” King said.

Possible future events planned for White House Productions include a Halloween party and “Mike Rao paintball,” King said.