Dance Marathon planners are expecting to raise a minimum of $12,000 for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and Camp Heartland this Saturday at Boston University’s first ever Dance Marathon.
One hundred students have registered to dance in the marathon, and numerous others will cheer them on as ‘moralers,’ Dance Marathon officials said.
Sam Sims, an Inter Fraternity Sorority Council official, said the planning committee is hoping to unite the community and start a new tradition at BU.
‘As a BU community we are giving a large sum of money to a great cause and two wonderful organizations,’ Sims said. ‘The program has such a great spirit.’
Planners said the total cost of the event will come to $14,000. Eleven-thousand dollars have been donated from sponsors, and the Student Union Allocations Board Monday night agreed to cover the remaining expenses.
Although the Dance Marathon committee officials said they found ways to run the event cheaply, they came across two hurdles over the past several weeks. Organizers have been planning the event since the middle of last semester.
‘At the last minute, we incurred two unexpected costs totaling $4,000,’ said Remie Ferreira, who is representing the Student Union in organizing the event. ‘We needed a generator for the evening and we had to abide by a [Student Activities Office] rule that says we must purchase our food from Catering on the Charles.’
The extensive sponsor list includes businesses such as STA Travel, Barnes ‘ Noble, Ben ‘ Jerry’s and many campus student groups, planners said.
‘People know that all of this is for charity,’ Ferreira said. ‘None of the performers are being paid and with the help of our sponsors and SUAB, we are now able to donate all of the proceeds to charity.’
The event will also included speakers, raffles, music from Landsdowne Street club DJs and performances from many student groups, planners said. Eric Nies from MTV’s Real World is expected to attend, they said.
Ferreira said volunteers are welcome and can offer their services in four-hour shifts, and anyone can come to the event. Students will be charged $10 to stay on the dance floor for three hours, he said.
Planners stressed that members of campus Greek organizations have played a crucial role planning the marathon. Seventy percent of the sponsored dancers are members of fraternities and sororities, planners said.
‘This event comes at the perfect time, just when people are frustrated with Greek life,’ said SAO coordinator of programs and Greek advisor Seth Rosenzweig. ‘Dance Marathon will open BU’s eyes to the Greeks.’
Sims said the event has given students in BU’s Greek system a way to step up into leadership positions and interact with the rest of the BU community.
‘We hope that the [letter to the editor] writers can come out and see what the Greeks are like,’ Sims said. ‘Everyone is really excited.’
Ferreira said SAO is hosting a dinner and speaker Friday night in the GSU for Dance Marathon dancers and ‘moralers.’
‘We want to remind participants of the cause and get spirits up before we party all night on Saturday,’ he said.
Rosenzweig said he is proud of the event’s student organizers for taking on the project.
‘They did an unbelievable job,’ he said. ‘The idea is to bring the BU community together, a challenge that we have overcome.’
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