On Feb. 7, the Hilton Hotel in downtown Portland hosted Ida B. Wells High School’s annual Winter Formal dance. Over 600 students showed up to celebrate “A Night in New York.” The lights were flashing, the drinks were splashing and the music was blasting. 

But everything didn’t go according to plan. A little over an hour into the dance, nine senior boys were removed from the dance floor for moshing.

Large groups of people began arriving at the venue around 7:30 p.m. The music was loud and the energy was high. People were excited to dance, hang out with friends and let loose. 

According to multiple students, the situation began shortly after 8 p.m. A group of boys began moshing, including many seniors, several of whom are part of IBW leadership. It was typical dance-floor chaos: jumping, bumping and yelling, according to the students.

“Mosh pitting happens at every dance,” said Lucas Coles, another senior and ASB member. “And this one had actually been quite tame compared to the last couple of years.”

Anas Ali, a senior and member of IBW’s Associated Student Body (ASB), agrees. “We were all dancing. You know, we’re high school seniors. When you get to your senior year, you can mess around,” he said. 

There were no ill intentions on the students’ behalf, according to Ali. “We were messing around, but we weren’t messing around with the intent of hurting anybody,” he said.

But the mood shifted when security and administrators intervened. The DJ paused the music to shine a flashlight on the students, calling them out in front of everyone. “He was like, ‘You guys are being so selfish.’ He had the whole crowd boo us. I was like, ‘Whoa, that feels like a lot,’” Coles said.

IBW senior Sam Mahoney said someone shoved him, so he “shoved them back.” A Lincoln High School security guard volunteering at the dance witnessed this. 

That’s when things escalated. 

Mahoney was escorted out of the room amid cries of confusion and anger. His removal sparked a chant from students: “Free Mahoney! Free Mahoney!” 

After a few minutes, most of the group dispersed, but Yoshio Drescher, IBW’s ninth-grade vice principal, stopped eight boys, including Coles and Ali, and took them off the dance floor and into a private room.  Their removal did not go unnoticed, either. According to Coles, the crowd in the hallway outside the room grew to over 50 people.

“They opened the door, and everyone would just start cheering and screaming at the security guards when they would leave. It was the most dramatic thing,” he said.

Inside the room, emotions were conflicting: the administrators were angry and concerned, while the students were confused and frustrated. There was a lot of back-and-forth. Most of the boys thought they were being pulled aside to explain themselves, not to be dismissed entirely. “We were told we’d be able to go back,” said Coles.

The message wasn’t clear, though. To the students, it seemed that half the administration wanted them to leave, while the other half felt it was okay for them to rejoin the dance, as long as they didn’t mosh. The students apologized and tried to explain, but tensions grew as someone made a poorly timed joke, and everyone laughed. “[Drescher] felt disrespected,” Coles said.

After thirty minutes of back-and-forth, the outcome became obvious: the students had to leave.  

Drescher said that administrators were responding to safety concerns. “We received multiple reports of students moshing, pushing, shoving,” he said. “Our number one thing in any sort of event, if you’re an administrator, is to keep people safe. Even though it’s on a weekend and it’s not on campus, the school rules still apply.”

He said that the decision to intervene was preventative. “We don’t want to wait until someone has been hurt.” Though Dresher acknowledged that moshing can happen at school dances, he said that the behavior that night stood out. “I’ve been to dances, and I haven’t seen anything like that.”

The students, however, felt that the response was excessive. “I think it was blown up a little bit out of proportion,” said Mahoney. “I think [his friends] were just trying to have fun.” 

Mahoney also felt frustrated by the sudden strictness on dance protocol. “I just don’t get why we’re coming down on all the restrictions my senior year, because I’ve done this every other year. It just felt weird that [the administrators] were suddenly stricting up on it super hard,” he said.

Several comments were attributed to Drescher, including that he “thought they were good kids,” and that he felt “threatened.” Drescher declined to elaborate on these comments. 

He did, however, emphasize the respect the students showed during their conversations. “I was really impressed with their maturity and the way that they showed up,” he said. 

As prom season approaches, administrators say that expectations will be communicated clearly. Drescher said he will be “making sure, before the dance starts, that we’re clear [on] what kind of behavior might get you removed from a dance.” 

The day before Winter Formal, IBW principal Ayesha Coning sent an email with expectations for the dance to students and families. “Extremely physical and rough dancing is not allowed,” was the only mention of regulations related to dancing. 

No injuries were reported after the dance.