NASHVILLE, Tenn. — With final exams over until the spring, Vanderbilt University students will pull an all-nighter of a different sort on Friday, Feb. 17, when they hit the dance floor from 7 p.m. until 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 18.
Just another Friday night on a college campus – you say. Actually, it’s the university’s fourth annual Dance Marathon, a 14-hour student-run event to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network, which directly benefits local network member the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. The event is open to the public and admission is $10 at the door.
All proceeds from Dance Marathon, which will be held at the Student Recreation Center on Vanderbilt’s campus, will go to Children’s Hospital. Money raised at the event comes from sponsors, dancers’ individual donations and from the admission price.
About 500 dancers are expected to participate and follow the event’s rules: no sitting, each dancer is expected to raise $200 each and dancers are expected to stay for the full 14 hours.
Student organizers say there will be more to do than watch exhausted dancers barely able to stand. While the program started out as a 14-hour dance-a-thon, it has evolved to include several elements including food, games, entertainment and a chance to meet some of the families who will benefit from the money raised. This year’s entertainment includes the Tennessee Titans cheerleaders; Who’s Bad, a Michael Jackson cover band; singer/songwriter Dave Barnes and a host of other dance and music performances.
In early 2005, Vanderbilt’s Dance Marathon raised more than $100,000 and was nationally recognized with an award at the Children’s Miracle Network’s annual award ceremony.
Started in 1995, Children’s Miracle Network’s Dance Marathon is a national program in which more than 80 colleges and universities around the country participate by holding separate Dance Marathon events in the fall through spring.
For more information about Dance Marathon at Vanderbilt University, visit http://www.vanderbilt.edu/dance_marathon/.
For more information about Children’s Miracle Network’s national Dance Marathon program, visit http://www.cmn.org/web/programs/dancemarathon.htm.
Media Contact: Princine Lewis, 615-322-NEWS
princine.l.lewis@vanderbilt.edu