For seven years Dance Marathon participants have been helping to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network. This year the student organization behind Dance Marathon is asking for help from faculty and staff.

In past years the participation has been small, but various faculty have expressed their interest in the event, Dance Marathon Director David Humphrey said.

“This year, with the establishment of the Faculty and Staff Relations Chair Position, the Dance Marathon Steering Committee is able to focus on getting the faculty and staff more involved,” Humphrey said.

Sarah Saccany holds the new chair position. She said most of the prior involvement by faculty has been in the form of monetary contribution or volunteer work.

The faculty is unaware that they are able to be dancers, moralers, and dance group representatives, Saccany said.

“Dance Marathon has grown to be one of the biggest activities on campus, it only makes sense that we would include the entire campus,” Saccany said.

“The fact that very few faculty get involved in the main activity of the marathon has less to do with how they feel about the students or the cause than how they might feel about dancing for several hours,” Executive Vice President Linda Dobb said.

Dobb is planning to participate in Dance Marathon by volunteering to set-up.

Faculty members can be dancers for the event. The requirement is to dance for as many two hour shifts as desired, not the entire 32 hours Saccany said.

Student dancers are required to raise $375 and a faculty dancer is asked to raise $75.

Faculty that would like to become moralers are assigned a three to four hour shift where they help dancers stay entertained. Faculty moralers are also asked to raise $75.

Dobb said she encourages faculty members to support Dance Marathon by donating money and volunteering in areas of need. “If faculty members are truly ambitious and want to be innovative, they could try to get our first faculty and staff team together this year,” Dobb said.

Another faculty member who is involved with Dance Marathon this year is Program Coordinator Heather Bishara at the office of Campus Involvement.

Bishara plans to dance for a few hours during the marathon.

“It is important to me to be involved because I respect and admire the effort that BGSU students put into this event,” Bishara said.

Bishara said that Dance Marathon is something that the University can be proud of because it is for a great cause.

“Supporting the Children’s Miracle Network by participating in Dance Marathon benefits thousands of children each year,” Humphrey said.

Humphrey said that until one sees the children and families that benefit from Dance Marathon or the actual event where thousands of students dance, one cannot understand the impact of Dance Marathon.

“The faculty and staff participating this year will not only encourage the student body, but they will also show them that supporting charitable organizations is important,” Humphrey said.