No wallflowers – that was the unspoken motto at the sixth annual Best Buddies Ball in the Georgia Hall Saturday night.

As a spectrum of tunes from Jerry Lee Lewis to Nelly played over the speakers, about 150 members of Best Buddies – a volunteer organization that pairs college students with developmentally challenged adults – came together for the year-end dance.

“It’s one of the biggest events in the Southeast region for all of the

Best Buddies chapters,” said University Best Buddies President Lauren Katzerman, a junior from Memphis, Tenn.

Having the party on campus, she said, provides an opportunity for the members to integrate into the community and eliminate stereotypical perspectives.

“People with disabilities are often seen as scary or incapable,” Katzerman said. “We have buddies that surf the Internet or program computers. They have best friends, girlfriends and boyfriends.”

Southeast Regional Program Manager Courtney Baum said the ball brings exposure to the University because the entire region is invited. Other colleges attending included College of Charleston and Georgia College and State University.

“Not to mention, it’s just fun,” she added. For some members – even those two to three times older than their student friends – this is their first formal dance.

One goal of the program is to get away from an institutionalized approach.

“It’s not necessarily a mentor program, like Big Brothers, Big Sisters,” Baum said. “It’s friendship-based. It’s trying to see them as a person, see them as a member of the community who can contribute to society.”

The matches are based on criteria such as hobbies and personality. Volunteers are expected to spend time with their buddies twice a month and contact them at least once a week.

Senior David Roffwarg from Dunwoody and his buddy, Emerson, chat on the phone four times a week about anything from girls to haircuts. Recently, conversations between Roffwarg and Emerson – whom the Best Buddies network requested not be identified with a last name – focused on the upcoming ball.

Sometimes the two of them play basketball or take strolls in Memorial Park, hoping to spot a few frogs.

“He’s a fun guy,” Roffwarg said. “I want to keep in touch, not just because I don’t want to disappoint him, but because he’s pretty cool to talk to.”

As the D.J. keyed up the party standard “Y.M.C.A.,” Roffwarg pointed out a typically shy woman who now moved to every beat.

“There are no inhibitions here,” he said. “People just want to have fun.”