Students dance the night away for a good cause

By MICHAEL BROWN

On Friday many Huskies danced the night away, free of charge, at CAB’s Dance-a-thon in the Regency Room of the Holmes Student Center.

The Dance-a-thon was held to remember the victims of the Feb 14. shootings. Beth Collins, a senior special education major and member of CAB, said that 30 different donors, such as Target, Toppers Pizza, Domino’s Pizza, Buffalo Wild Wings and the University Bookstore, gave food and merchandise to the event, allowing it to be free.

Collins was unsure how many people attended, but she knew it was over 250, because CAB made 250 T-shirts, and they were all given out.

“We knew the week of the 14th would be really focused on mourning the other students that we lost, and we wanted to focus on celebrating their lives and not just focusing on the tragedy,” Collins said.

Collins said students could also donate money to the event which would go toward the Feb. 14 Scholarship Fund. Everyone in attendance also got three free raffle tickets for a gift basket. There were 22 baskets to give away, and two baskets were awarded every half hour. Collins said this was done to encourage participation.

Multiple students who attended said the highlight of the evening was the “diversity.”

“It was almost like a wedding,” said Karley Johnson, a sophomore media communication major. “There was hip hop, country, the ‘Macarena’ and some classics like ‘Thriller’ and ‘Twist and Shout.'”

Junior French major Curtis Valasek liked that there were many people in attendance.

“I really liked it,” Valasek said. “I was here since [8 p.m.], and the dance floor was packed.”

Some of those who orchestrated the event hope to make it annual.

“It was a very diverse program, and [it was good] to see everyone dancing to the same music and having fun,” said Sandra Diaz, a senior Spanish major and member of CAB. “We want to make it a tradition for CAB.”