rutgers university dance marathon
Our Credo - What We Believe
Families first. Everything counts. Surrender yourself.
Our Mission
To create a legacy of service, caring and community involvement at Rutgers University
To foster a relationship between Rutgers University’s organizations and patients and families served by Embrace Kids Foundation
To raise funds and awareness for the patient families served by Embrace Kids Foundation
History
Early Beginnings
The beginning of Dance Marathon at Rutgers University dates back to the spring of 1971. Three members of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity, Bob Schultz, Bob Manis and Steve Gerber, along with Douglass College students, Hannah Gonski and Cheryl Biber, held the first Dance Marathon in the College Avenue Gym. In its first year, the ZBT Dance Marathon raised over $18,000 for the American Cancer Society. The ZBT Dance Marathon lasted approximately ten years when the concept of a Marathon on the banks was lost until the fall of 1996.
Dance Marathon Reimagined (1999-2006)
Under the leadership of JoAnn Arnholt, the Dean of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, discussion began with representatives from the Children’s Miracle Network about restarting a Dance Marathon at Rutgers University. Unfortunately, the project was initially delayed, as attempts to organize a Marathon in 1996 and 1997 were poorly supported. Entering the spring of 1998, the Marathon was a noble idea with little support. However, this would all change in the spring of 1998.
Strong student leadership emerged as the Interfraternity and Panhellenic Council Presidents, Tony Solimine and Nicole Ahmed, met with Dean Arnholt and vowed that the first annual Dance Marathon would occur in March of 1999. Solimine volunteered to be the Director and recruited the first steering committee consisting of ten members. In March of that year, RUDM took place in the Rutgers Student Center (now the College Ave. Student Center) with 99 dancers and was a great success.
In 2000, the students agreed that partnering with a local charity would be more appropriate. That year, the partnership with the Institute for Children with Cancer and Blood Disorders, now known as Embrace Kids Foundation, began and continues to grow each year.
After the first two years, the Marathon quickly grew in popularity and needed a larger home. The students approached the Rutgers College Department of Recreation and asked permission to hold the Marathon in the College Avenue Gym. Recreation readily agreed, and in 2001, Dance Marathon moved to the College Avenue Gym
Growth & Restructuring (2007 - 2016)
At the conclusion of the 2006 Marathon, it was determined that it was time to review and perhaps revise the structure of the Steering Committee. External research was conducted, and internal evaluations were reviewed. As a result, a new structure was unveiled for the 2007 Dance Marathon – a Board of Directors and Central Planning Team. Six students made up the Board of Directors (BOD) and eleven made up the Central Planning Team (CPT).
As the number of student leaders and Dancers continued to grow, it soon became apparent that Dance Marathon was quickly outgrowing the College Avenue Gym. During the summer of 2013, advisors began working with Rutgers Athletics to discuss a possible move to the Louis Brown Athletic Center (RAC). Negotiations progressed quickly and the official announcement was made in September - DM 2014 would take place in the RAC! The first year in the RAC proved to be very successful, resulting in a record 800 Dancers and an even bigger fundraising total. Dance Marathon now calls the RAC home and looks forward to many more successful years.
In the spring of 2015, the advisors realized that if DM kept expanding, Dancers who raised their totals would be turned away because the RAC was reaching maximum capacity. After extensive research and consideration, the solution they came up with was simple but involved altering the structure DM was built on. DM 2016 was the first ever Marathon in Rutgers’ history to consist of two 12-hour sessions. Each session contained the same components as the original Marathon, but created an opportunity for double the number of Dancers to participate.
Milestones & Challenges (2017 - 2020)
As Dance Marathon’s mission and credo continued to become ingrained in the fabric of the Rutgers student body, their fundraising efforts also continued to expand. In 2017, RUDM achieved the significant fundraising milestone of $1,000,000.00 ($1,038,986.13 to be exact!). And for the next three years, DM continued to meet that milestone figure.
In March 2020, the world came to a halt with the onset of the Coronavirus. COVID-19 caused the university to “temporarily” halt operations, which also meant that all university events, including Dance Marathon, were instructed to cancel our in-person event. Despite not being able to gather in person, our team was able to transform our in-person event to a completely virtual event in the span of four weeks. On April 4, we “gathered” with dancers, patient
families, volunteers, and alumni for a 10-hour virtual Dance Marathon. While it did not happen the way we had originally planned, we could not have asked for a more joyful celebration. We remained committed to our fundraising efforts and were able to donate $1,034,795.96 to support our Embrace Kids Foundation families.
COVID-19 continued through the following year, requiring our team to present the 2021 Dance Marathon. The following academic year allowed us to return to campus, while restrictions on gathering were very slowly lifted. As the Board of Directors looked forward to April 2022 and worried if gathering restrictions might again be imposed, the decision was made to hold RUDM 2022 outside. Voorhees Mall was determined to be the best location and together with many campus partners, we were blessed with great weather and an outstanding outdoor Dance Marathon.
25 Years and beyond
RUDM 2023 marked 25 years of RUDM. As a community, we celebrated our anniversary and made our triumphant return to the RAC (now known as Jersey Mike’s Arena or JMA).
Year by year, our team continues to teach new students about our partnership with Embrace Kids Foundation, the resilient patient families, their need for our dedication, and the amazing campus tradition that is Dance Marathon.
