Transylvania University students are going to once again dance the night away for a good cause.
The Transy Dance Marathon on March 28 is raising money for the DanceBlue Pediatric Hematology & Oncology Clinic. Although the Pre-Health Club organizes the event, a large part of the campus community pitches in.
“The cause is the main thing that draws students to it,” Pre-Health Adviser Robin Prichard said. Plus: “It’s just really fun.”
From 5-10 p.m. in the Campus Center Pioneer Rooms, the marathon will feature different themes — last year’s included Beach, Rave and Western — and participants learn a dance at the beginning.
Around 30 Pioneers who are serving with the Transylvania event’s leadership group have been busy lately with fundraising, signing up teams, planning for decorations and spreading the word on social media.
Last year’s inaugural event drew around 130 participants and raised $6,400. Prichard said organizers are working to get even more students and donors involved this time.
Donate here. And sign up to participate as a group or individual by the end of this week to make sure you get a T-shirt. Additionally, the organization that raises the most money wins a prize.
Fundraising by the Transylvania community has already started — from a bake sale to a trivia night with a raffle hosted by the Pre-PA Club and PhiDE on Thursday.
Even beyond campus, groups and businesses like Chick-fil-A are giving to the marathon, which will provide food for dancers. “We’re hoping to get everything donated so all of the money we raise goes directly to the cause,” Prichard said.
The dance is a mini version of the University of Kentucky’s DanceBlue marathon.
Senior Madi Davis, Transy’s Pre-Health Club president, has played a leading role in helping make the event a success.
Last April, she was the one who presented the oversized check from Transylvania’s dance at UK’s 24-hour marathon in Rupp Arena. “That was really cool,” she said.
Davis was also part of a group that visited the DanceBlue clinic last year. “It was amazing,” she said. The stories of young patients are displayed along a hallway there. “It was really touching to be in the clinic and see all of the lives that they have helped.”
