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73 Comments
- Miles314, on 10/12/2007, -1/+36This is the most under-publicized philanthropic event put on by students in the US. I personally have been a part of Dance Marathon and the money goes to the right places and helps these kids. Additionally, it's amazing that this whole production is run solely by students. Kudos, Penn Staters and keep up the good work.
- Phocion55, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17PENN STATE
- jfritz828, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17WE ARE!!!!
- emehrkay, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13PENN STATE!!!
My girl went to entertain the dancers sat morning at 7 am. i think she lead them in a dance or something - Mix0mat0sis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11I just danced this year and it was absolutely amazing! I slept for 22 hours when I got back to my apartment and I'm almost healed up (minus a couple bruises still on my ankles). What made it even better this year is that we sponsored a THON family and I got to hang out with Alex, our THON child for a lot of the day. It was so much easier to dance this year knowing that Alex will benefit from all of our pain. I tried to hold back the tears but some times it was just too much to handle. Check out the main site at www.thon.psu.edu.
- omatsei, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10For those not in-the-know, Happy Valley is the name of the valley that is home to Penn State's main campus (the University Park campus). There is no army base here (I've lived here for the last 25+, and worked at Penn State for the last 5. I know the area pretty well).
THON has been growing pretty steadily ever since it started. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised to see it surpass $7m next year, maybe even $10m in 2009. - emehrkay, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8My son's mother did it a few years ago. I dont know how you guys can do it, but i salute your efforts.
- maize, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8A job truly well done guys.
- Phocion55, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Thanks for setting your school back a few years....
- Loto, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Thank you!
- aaronfleishman, on 11/07/2009, -1/+7I danced in THON 2006. Seeing all the kids and families there supporting the dancers during the grueling weekend-long event...simply amazing!
- Phocion55, on 10/12/2007, -7/+12I am convinced that Happy Valley is one of the greatest places on earth.
- sully213, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7YOU'RE WELCOME!!!!!!
- omatsei, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Anybody else get thrown off by the movie "Marshall" when they yelled "WE ARE... MARSHALL"? Every single time that commercial came on, I had to mute it because it messed with my head.
- murraj2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5It's nice to see positive articles about Greek Life in the media. Last year Relay for Life was held at my school (RPI), and we raised more than any other school per capita by a pretty large amount. About 80-90% of the fundraising was done by the Greeks at RPI. And although there are plenty of examples of stupid houses across the country who continue to do archaic things like hazing(which are always the first things to make the paper), there are a lot of houses where young men and women are gaining a lot of leadership skills and giving a lot back to the community. This is just a fantastic example of it.
- met152, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I was involved with THON from 2001 - 2005. I danced in 2002 and was a THON Chairperson for my fraternity, Alpha Sigma Phi during those years.
A huge thank you to everyone involved with THON at anytime in their life.
The Four Diamonds Fund does an amazing thing for the families in need. I encourage you to participate or make a donation if you feel this is a worthwhile cause.
Visit http://www.thon.org or http://www.hmc.psu.edu/fourdiamonds/ for information - shertzerj, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Class of 2006 here. I'm awfully proud of what the students do with THON.
- glacius99, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Penn State Proud!
Class of 2000.. - steveatdownmix, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7PENN STATE
- NightStryke, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5well done guys
- Ninnux, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4We are...... Penn State!
Class of '94 :) - Dhalsim007, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3These guys ROCK! Congrats to the Nits' (short for Nittany Lions ... it's not an insult) for the great fundraising job!
- BobMysterioso, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Congrats are certainly in order.
I've worked in fund-raising and this is a sexy cause. What could motivate people more to give than kids - sick kids no less? The only way you could get more sympathy is if they were sick orphaned kids. Then maybe, you'd have an even easier time.
Don't like what I'm saying? Check out the funding of some organizations that provide help or conselling to battered women. A friend of mine works at a nonprofit that provides housing for the homeless with HIV and AIDS. Try fundraising for that, and you'll see, people aren't going to just give to any old cause. Conversely check out Speaking of Women's Health. This facile organization sponsored by every major maker of beauty products - is an org about "growing old gracefully" and "loving the skin you're in". Their director makes over 350k/yr. That is one nonprofit!
Fund-raising is all about the cause. I worked a telethon for Katrina and the phones rang nonstop for 4 hours. We crashed the switch for the city. We raised 400k in 2 hours with just 48 phones. Passion for the cause motivates people to give.
Still, I didn't mobilize this sort of effort for the sick kids. I'm glad these folks did. - lucidmatt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Dugg because you have to be dead inside to just pass over a story like this. Well done all involved!
- james2die4, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I was an overall chairman in..... 1990 and I danced in 1991! (Feeling old.)
Glad to see the continued success of THON, - Loto, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2That's actually the engineering building, Hammond. It really is a horrible ugly building, both inside and out. The architecture building is directly behind it, and half of it was actually torn out and replaced with a little park. It looks much nicer since it is all brick.
- emehrkay, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2if you look at it, it is a sky scraper on it's side
- polyGone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It was all cocaine, people. Let's not get excited. :P
- sharper130, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2WE ARE PENN STATE
- MattyLite, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I was stuck inside doing work all weekend, but I'll have to get involved next year.
- litkaj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I never participated in THON but I have donated a few times. This is a great charity drive and this was another great year.
Oh, and Undergraduate Class of 2004, back again now for a Masters (expecting to graduate Spring 2008). - sully213, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It's amazing how the total raised has increased every year. My last full-year at Penn State (for Thon 2001) I think we raised somewhere between 2-3 million and that was amazing. When I heard the total on the local news last night I was very impressed. Congratulations to all who worked hard this year to make Thon another rousing success.
And let's not forget the real reason; the kids with cancer that are benefited by the Four Diamond's Fund that Thon supports (http://www.hmc.psu.edu/fourdiamonds/). These kids have faced more hardship in their young lives than many of us will ever experience in our entire lifetimes. - winnch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I loved Penn State. What a great school.. University Park is a wonderful campus -- though I always felt the architecture building alone College Ave (west of Pugh I believe?) was ironically quite ugly.
Well done, THON! - Aldinach, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The top raising Fraternity and Sorority partner raised nearly $300,000 this year alone.
- a007proxy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Just watching THON is amazing, I couldn't imagine what it would be like to be a dancer. The atmosphere is something you cannot describe.
And I think that is the most people that have bene in the Bryce Jordan Center in a loonngg time. - Heese, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3We are...Penn State
class of 05 - wtsteamer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I participated "long-distance" by performing for an hour during a weekend long event held in the virtual social community "Second Life". The Mill Pond "sim" was the location of several days of live music performers, scripters, 3D graphic designers and more donating their time and tips toward the THON event. I know I only gave an hour... but it was fulfilling to know that I was able to give a bit for this event and cause.
Congrats Penn State students and coordinators of THON! I'm so very impressed. My daughter lost her best friend to childhood leukemia several years ago... Every little bit helps, right? - stratman05, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2A friend's daughter was one of the guests from 4 diamonds a few years ago. THON is a great thing. Glad to see them finally get noticed.
- bSimms, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The architecture department is not housed in the engineering units anymore, its in an entirely new building by north halls. There was a park there as well before the university decided to rip out unit E. Taking down the units is so stupid, the amount of history in those buildings is unbelievable.
- Loto, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1There are a number of fairly okay fraternities up here. The bad ones tend to get shut down one way or another. Alpha Sig anyone?
- Aldinach, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2It gave me chills everytime I walked into the Bryce Jordan Center this year. It's such a moving event to see so many people come together to support such a great cause and in the end make such a difference like 5.2 million dollars. And if you didn't know this is a 1 million dollar increase from last years total of 4.2 million. Here are just a few links to some movies of the event at Penn State:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np6elB0U3SU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mCZ5l31bp0
(Just one of the many activities during THON to keep the dancers awake)
And to donate or find out more information about THON visit their website at http://www.thon.org/ - ell0bo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Oh come on, we're plenty smart at PSU but you think we're the first to come up with the "WE ARE..." chant. Plenty of other schools do it... they just don't have 106000 people screaming it like we do... 40k of which are alcohol fueled students. I will miss you student section... Thon though is one of the things that can make you proud to have gone to PSU.
- omatsei, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Hammond is one of the Engineering buildings. The College of Engineering has over a dozen buildings, mostly located in the SW corner of campus (the Engineering Quad). The old Architectural building was actually one of the small buildings, linked together, called the Engineering Units, A - E. Now they only have A - C, and made a park for the Alumni Center out of the area taken up by D & E.
In the fall, University Park is a very beautiful campus in a very beautiful area. It's easily rivaled every other school I've seen. The only thing they need to do is tear down the old buildings and replace them. - jjed824, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If it's anything like the dance marathon at my university, then the atmosphere is quite easy to describe: hot and smelly.
- Astravian, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wow, the year I graduated we "only" raised $3.5 million. THON is on a roll!
class of '03 - omatsei, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that Architectural had the Engineering Units A-C... I just meant they were still standing. After D & E were torn down, I knew Architectural moved, but I didn't know where.
- Nailuj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wow, I love seeing such a positive attitude about Penn State in the national news. Of the non-Greek organizations the first and second largest donations were done in the name of floors within the honors dorms.(Atlas and Springfield house)
- radio1mike, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I've been to Penn State a few times. Lovely campus, great academics and sports, and I am glad the money goes to cancer.
But, seriously, you gotta stop with this back-slapping all around. Believe me, if the Greek System got no publicity out of this; there would be no donations of time or money from Greek or the alums who went through the fraternity system. It's as if these one time-one shot charity events are penance and absolution for the partying and wastes of time from Thursday night to Sunday morning, to the Sunday night visits to Hooters. - JeffP, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Many universities around the nation have taken to the dance marathon. I was lucky enough to be involved with the one at Indiana University while I was there (starting as a dancer and working up to a vice president my senior year). On the surface they seem silly, but they truly are rewarding experiences.
The IUDM raised close to $1 million last year. Of course its only been around since '91 whereas Penn State has been doing it since the 70s.
Heres a listing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_marathon - fotodevil, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1THON is a great cause and truly amazing event. It makes me proud to be a PSU alum! Every time I see canners on the street, I give some money. $5million is amazing! Congratulations!
Class of '04 -
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