As the Nittany Lion mascot threw high fives and Thon captains danced to music emanating from speakers, students unsure of how to involve themselves in Thon had their questions answered.
Wednesday night marked the second ever Thon Involvement Fair, an event that was created in response to a "through the roof" increase in student interest in Thon, Overall Chairwoman Elyse Adams said.
Because applications for Thon captain and committee positions exceed the number of posts available, the involvement fair provided information on alternative ways to become a part of Thon, Adams said.
"We don't have enough positions for everyone that applies," said John Arnao (senior-health policy and administration), Thon communications overall chairman. "We don't want to turn anyone away."
Adams said Thon has seen many more independent organizations in recent years, and the fair was a way to help students learn about the process.
Booths lined the Paul Robeson Cultural Center's Heritage Hall with signs providing information about Thon organizations, becoming an independent dance couple and starting a new organization.
The Nittany Lion mascot made an appearance as well as Beth Carey (sophomore-health and human development), who is a Four Diamonds child and Thon family relations captain.
Tori Joseph, a member of Foto, an independent Thon organization, said she hopes the fair helps increase involvement in the newly created group.
"We're still pretty new," she said. "We're going to try to do everything we can. We have a small base of members that we're still trying to build on."
Students were able to sign up for independent Thon organizations, as well as obtain detailed information about other alternatives.
Kelly Ricciuti (senior-accounting), who was providing information about becoming an independent dance couple, said being an independent dancer is a great way to become involved with Thon without joining an organization.
Students who raise a minimum fundraising amount are entered into a lottery to win a spot on the dancefloor for Thon 2010, she said.
Alli Shultz (senior-actuarial science) informed students at the fair about the process of creating their own organization.
"We really want to get the word out that this is something you can do," she said. "Because most people don't even think about it."
Tim Heindl (junior-mechanical engineering) and Mike Barrett (junior-psychology) said they attended the fair because they were interested in becoming involved but were unsure how to do so.
"We have a friend that's a Thon captain," Barrett said. "We wanted to join an organization, but we didn't know anything about it."
Heindl said he thought the fair was beneficial.
"Everyone was really eager to talk about what their organization's about," he said. "It really helped us figure out what we wanted to do."
