Big party week for the Obamas

President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama have
a packed social schedule this week, with two major galas and a
reception for college athletes.

On Monday evening, the president will welcome collegiate star athletes
to the White House for a reception at 5:45 p.m. The annual event, first
held by former President George W. Bush, recognizes outstanding student
athletes in more than a dozen sports, including field-hockey, lacrosse,
and volleyball. Neither of Obama’s alma maters, Columbia University
and Harvard University, made the grade.

{mosads}On Wednesday the First Couple will don black tie for the annual
Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute gala, one of the more
entertaining political galas of the Washington fall season. A number of
entertainers are being honored with awards, including Eva Longoria
Parker, five-time Grammy winner Arturo Sandoval, and musician
Sheila E. Also participating in the festivities will be Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.), and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. 

Hopefully the Obamas get some rest Thursday or Friday, because they
will be back in formalwear on Saturday night for the Congressional Black
Caucus Foundation’s (CBCF) annual Phoenix Awards dinner. The dinner
will mark the culmination of the foundation’s 40th Annual Legislative
Conference. 

Honorees at the dinner will include New Jersey State Assembly Speaker
Sheila Y. Oliver, actor and humanitarian Harry Belafonte,
journalist Simeon Booker, and renowned choreographer Judith
Jamison.

Washingtonians will recall that White House party-crashers Tareq and
Michaele Salahi allegedly snuck into the CBCF dinner in 2009.
Expect security to be extra tight this time around. 

The
Washington social season unofficially began Saturday night with the
Washington National Opera’s season opening gala, and ends in early
December with the Kennedy Center Honors.