For students going 46 hours without sleep this weekend, it might be difficult to make that 8 a.m. class Monday. Fortunately, for most students, professors recognize Thon's magnitude.
Mike Hacke, Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon Overall Chairman, said while there isn't an official Thon policy professors are supposed to follow, everyone involved in Thon is encouraged to attend all of their classes.
"We recommend that everyone fulfills their academic requirements as they would on any other day of the week, and we encourage them to also participate in Thon," Hacke said. "It's a student-run philanthropy, and we take the student part very seriously."
Most students participating in Thon have found their professors willing to work with them when it comes to missing class and making up work.
"All my professors are really lenient toward Thon. I have an exam that Monday at 11 after Thon, but they have a makeup exam for anyone [involved in] Thon," Rick Strable, a family relations captain, said. "I haven't really run into any problems. They all realize that what we do is very important and they're all really supportive of Thon."
Sam Richards, a sociology professor, said his students are given a certain number of excused absences and they are expected to use those for Thon.
"However, if there is a test that Monday, I let people do a makeup if they're dancing -- only if they're dancing," Richards said.
Anthony Leach, a music professor, said he doesn't have an official Thon policy, but he has had dancers and morale committee members in his choirs in the past.
"They do what they need to do where Thon is concerned and return when they are healthy," Leach said.
Some dancers have found that while their professors are understanding, there are some things they can't miss Monday.
"They've been really accommodating. They really helped me clear out my schedule on Friday so I can sleep late and prepare for Thon," Ted Present (sophomore-geoscience), a Springfield Thon dancer, said. He added he might have to study Sunday night, though, and he has several labs Monday he can't miss.
Maria Truglio, an Italian professor, said most of the classes she teaches are small and discussion-based, so attendance is important. Students in her classes are given a certain number of free absences and she encourages Thon participants to use those, Truglio said.
"It's my understanding that Thon is during the weekend," she said. "Those who miss would be getting ready or recuperating, and they would be allowed to cash in those free absences."
