It was closer to 2 p.m. than midnight and something not remotely evil was lurking in the Sunken Garden, which was not remotely dark. Students, faculty, and staff of the College of William and Mary gathered to dance on the afternoon of April 19, 2009. Orchestrated by Senior Class President Kevin Dua, the dancers hoped to break the world record for the largest dance of the Michael Jackson hit Thriller. As the first words of Thriller, “It’s close to midnight and something evil’s lurking in the dark,” boomed out of the speakers, some 242 William and Mary people began dancing. After reviewing film of the event, officials from the Guinness Book of World Records notified Dua in May 2009 that all participants complied with the rules and counted in the attempt, so the College officially broke the previous record of 147. With the untimely death of Michael Jackson (1958-2009) in June 2009, the College’s attempt at the record was the last one while Jackson was still alive.

Items featured in the exhibit include clippings of the event from USA Today and The Scotsman, a newspaper in Edinburgh, Scotland; a black hat Dua wore during the event; photos from the record breaking attempt; and the certificate for the record from Guinness World Records. Images from the installed exhibit cases are available from the SCRC's Flickr page.

Curator: Steve Bookman, University Archives Specialist; Exhibit design and installation: Chandi Singer, Burger Archives Assistant.