Students and administrators at DePaul University College of Law have agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to avoid having the annual Barristers’ Ball — the law school prom, more or less — at Chicago’s Trump International Hotel and Tower.
The decision was reached earlier this week after numerous DePaul law students had criticized the venue, reports NBC Chicago.
On Tuesday, associate dean of student affairs Michael Burns wrote in an email that he was grateful to students who wanted to move the Barristers’ Ball from the Trump Tower because of its association with the billionaire real estate tycoon who is running for president this year as a Republican. (RELATED: Trump Has Never Voted In A Republican Primary)
DePaul administrators and student bar association leaders “have decided to cancel the Trump Tower contract and select another venue,” Burns explained in the email, according to the NBC affiliate.
“It is important to us all that this event be held at a venue that all of our students feel welcome and comfortable at,” the associate dean also wrote.
Burns noted that school officials are prepared to pay all fees associated with the cancellation.
Officials at the larger DePaul University reiterated Burns’s sentiment about the Trump Tower.
“This decision was not reached due to political affiliations as some have suggested, but rather to select a venue in which all of our students will feel welcomed and respected,” DePaul University spokeswoman Carol Hughes said in a statement obtained by The National Law Journal.
It’s not clear where the 1,000 or so students on the downtown Chicago campus of DePaul’s law school will now schedule their Barristers’ Ball.
Last year’s gala occurred at the Adler Planetarium on Saturday evening, April 11.
“Join us for appetizers, open bar and dancing!” the event description read. “We will also have DJ Marc D flying in from Las Vegas to grace us with his musical talents!” The theme of last year’s event was “Old Hollywood.” The dress code was formal.
The Trump International Hotel and Tower is a gleaming, 98-story skyscraper on the banks of the Chicago River which houses a hotel and posh condominiums. It opened in 2009.
Tripadvisor currently ranks the Trump International Hotel #13 among Chicago’s many hotels, just two spots in front of a Hyatt Place out by Chicago’s Midway Airport.
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