In an effort to spread awareness about THON and pediatric cancer, the overall committee has made a “global call to action.”
On Friday afternoon, members of the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon announced that they will conduct their first worldwide line dance, Dance With US!, that will take place during THON weekend.
The line dance is a step-by-step dance done once every hour in the Bryce Jordan Center, and it references pop culture, current events and THON.
The Dance With Us! line dance will be 30 seconds long and will differ from the traditional line dance that’s done THON weekend. It will focus only on THON and the Four Diamonds Fund.
Cat Powers, overall public relations chairperson, said the committee will post an instructional video on Wednesday on the THON website and Facebook page. Those who wish to participate must submit a video by email to the overall committee prior to Feb. 16, she said.
Dance With US! will take place at 6:45 p.m. on Feb. 16 during THON weekend, Powers (senior-public relations) said, and the submitted videos will be played.
“We really wanted to implement a new aspect during this year’s THON weekend, and this project is really exciting and a great way to spread THON everywhere and get the world involved,” she said.
Megan Brown , a Penn State student who studied abroad in London two years ago, said Dance With Us! is a great idea for students who will not be able to attend THON weekend. This will allow students who are miles away from Penn State to feel connected during THON weekend, she said.
Brown said she didn’t find any student-run groups that helped to spread awareness about pediatric cancer during her time in London. The only groups she found were run by adults, she said.
“There is nothing that compares to THON,” Brown (senior-human development and family studies) said.
Tom Gempp has been a member of THON for four years, having served as THON chair at Penn State Mont Alto campus and on the OPP committee for two years at University Park.
Gempp said the line dance is a great opportunity for the organization to spread its mission to the world in a new way. Childhood cancer is a worldwide issue and spreading awareness is important, he said.
“Music and dance seem to be a universal language and would allow people from other countries to connect with the THON dancers, volunteers and Four Diamonds Children like never before,” Gempp (senior-aerospace engineering and security and risk analysis) said. “Who knows? It might lead to something even bigger in the future.”
