Emily Svoboda, Arts & Sciences freshman, made a new friend last weekend.

She and John Hancock met Sunday, and a few hours later they had already had dinner, watched a movie, sang karaoke, went dancing and had a couple drinks, lemonade of course.

Now, many would see this as a lovely date or night on the town, but Emily and John didn’t meet through a dating service, looking for a rendezvous in Omaha.

Instead, all this occurred in Lower St. Johns Sunday afternoon through the newly established Hand-In-Hand program.

The Hand-In-Hand program pairs Creighton students and people with developmental disabilities for an afternoon of fun. This was the event’s first year at Creighton.

This year’s theme was ‘Your Time To Shine.’

Campus Ministry rolled out the red carpet to 23 guests from the Ollie Webb Center.

The Hand-In-Hand Core Team decorated Lower St. Johns with glittering stars, a disco ball and a photo set up where ‘paparazzi’ would take pictures of the guests and their escorts.

The original idea for Hand-In-Hand is to pair a student volunteer with a guest, but there was such a great response from Creighton students this year (73 volunteers), that two or three students shared a visitor.

“We hope it will get bigger and better every year,” said Katy Bolz, Business junior and Core Team member. “Hopefully, next time we’ll have a couple more guests.”

Svoboda learned of the event through an e-mail from Alpha Phi Omega, the service fraternity on campus.

“I thought it sounded like a lot of fun,” Svoboda said.

She was paired up with Hancock, a 51-year-old with a cognitive disability.

Despite their differences, the two hit it off and spent most of the afternoon by the lemonade table or on the dance floor.

Arts & Sciences sophomore Eden Hingwing was also John’s partner for the day. She volunteered to gain experience working with people who have disabilities.

“This is something that actually sparked my interest,” Hingwing said. “I’m thinking of doing this sort of thing for a career.”

Hinwing described how her connection with Hancock progressed as the day went on.

“He’s really quiet. At first, he was really shy, but he loves to dance… He keeps trying to sneak off with more lemonade.”

After a short break, Hingwing set off to find Hancock and Svoboda dancing to a karaoke version of “I Will Survive.” She took a green boa scarf from the costume rack and put it around Hancock’s neck.

“I don’t know who is having more fun, us or him,” Hingwing said.

I think most of the people here are better dancers than me.”

Hand-In-Hand started 30 years ago at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

It started off small, much like Creighton’s chapter, but has since blossomed into a campus-wide event with over 1,500 participants.

Last year, St. Joseph’s invited representatives from fellow Jesuit colleges to attend the event and had a conference to educate on how to start Hand-In-Hand at their own schools. Creighton sent five representatives.

“When we saw them do it, we fell in love with it,” said Kassi Kerschen, Arts & Sciences junior.

We decided to start slow this year. Working with the Ollie Webb Center helped a lot.”

Dena Launderville, adult services director for the Ollie Webb Center, was excited when Campus Ministry contacted her with the idea a few months ago.

“It was nice for someone else to do the planning. I just had to get the people,” she said.

Launderville also added that it was a good opportunity for her older group to have the spotlight. All of the guests were from 30 to their late 60s.

“I think it’s great that the college students give their time,” Launderville said. “Also, it’s a learning experience. It gives them a chance to meet people that are different from them and accept them for who they are.”

As Felicia Nuno, who works in the Dental Dean building, shared a bag of popcorn with her guest, Jenny, she admired her new friend.

“Jenny is just so wonderful. She wants to participate in everything. She likes to sing and dance,” Nuno said.

As the day came to a close, the escorts and guests gathered in a circle to say their goodbyes.

“I still want to sing!” one guest yelled out. Who could blame her? The cheerful mood in Lower St. Johns Sunday afternoon was infectious.

Reflecting back on the first Hand-In-Hand at Creighton, Bolz was happy.

“I think it was a success. We improvised well,” she said.

Svoboda stood alone exhausted. Where was Hancock?

“Oh, he’s in the bathroom. Must have been the lemonade,” she said. “I think I’m going to do it again next year.”