I had always thought that Dance Marathon was a victim of its own success.
Northwestern’s largest student-run philanthropic organization is the 800-pound gorilla of campus charity and service. The group, which holds a 30-hour dancing session at Norris University Center to raise money for a different charity each year, casts an ever-larger shadow heading into its 26th year.
DM raised $450,000 last year. Suitcase Party, the next largest campus philanthropy, garnered $40,000.
DM’s list of corporate sponsors reads like a who’s who of Olympic backers: Ford, American Airlines, Anheuiser Busch, Miller, Accenture. You get the point.
This is a group with the pull to lure Jerry Springer to campus, something usually left to endowed lecture series such as the Medill School of Journalism’s.
No other group has even one-tenth of DM’s resources at its disposal. Its manpower, sponsorship, fund-raising and public profile are unparalleled.
Can all of that success and power be a bad thing?
Every year disgruntled people take potshots at the big guy, accusing DM of stifling other organizations and dominating the limited pool of resources available to campus groups.
As a former Suitcase Party emcee, I harbored some resentment. Why should one group consume all the campus’ energy?
Even admirers note how dominating DM has grown to be.
“It has become massive and often times does overshadow other campus organizations’ efforts,” said Katie Turnbaugh, Suitcase Party co-chairwoman. “DM has a name, a brand. People are involved with DM, go to DM events, and give to DM largely because DM has incredible name recognition.”
“DM is great for this campus,” she continued. “It creates a community among all involved while working toward a respectable, benevolent goal. I only wish that the excitement and the support that the campus offers for Dance Marathon throughout the year could be seen for all campus groups as well.”
But that’s impossible.
While it is true, as Special Olympics Co-Chairwoman Melissa Bast pointed out, that many students volunteer for more than one campus group, there remains a finite amount of time, energy and money to go around.
“That’s not the fault of the organization, it’s the fault of the campus,” Bast said.
DM Executive Co-Chairwoman Michelle Madigan defended her group against the barbs that sometimes come DM’s way.
“Our size should not make us a scapegoat for other groups’ low participation,” she said. “We don’t see ourselves as competitive. We all have the same goals of philanthropy and we work with other groups whenever possible.”
Madigan’s claim seemed disingenuous when I first heard it. As I saw it, similar groups are inherently competitive and couldn’t help but recruit the same participants and sponsors. And how could a group as big as DM successfully co-exist with dozens of smaller groups?
In four years at NU, I’ve always heard grumblings about DM. Until I agreed to dance this year, I mostly agreed.
But this fall I was struck by DM’s willingness to sponsor joint programs, such as a bar night coordinated with Suitcase Party and Special Olympics.
More impressive has been DM’s flexibility in rescheduling events that conflict with other student group activities. Instead of sticking to its planned kickoff date, DM moved it up a week after finding out that Northwestern Community Development Corps and Oasis had scheduled an event the same night.
And the Springer speech last week was also moved, after DM organizers learned that For Members Only and Alianza had a conflicting event.
People are always going to accuse DM of being the Goliath that dwarfs fellow charitable organizations. Even though it will inevitably overshadow other groups, maybe it’s not the big, bad guy some would have you believe.
