By Paul TakahashiThe Daily Northwestern

About 600 dancers jived their way to raising a record-setting $708,711 for Dance Marathon 2007.

“Just the amount of effort the dancers put in and all of the hard work of the board goes to show it was an amazing experience,” said Chip Newcom, an executive co-chairman for DM.

In its 33rd year, DM is one of the largest entirely student-run philanthropies in the world, according to DM organizers. DM 2007 began at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 2, and ended at 1 a.m. on Sunday, March 4.

The proceeds were donated primarily to Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE) and the Evanston Community Foundation.

Susan Axelrod, the founder of CURE, said she was impressed by the amount of money raised this year.

“We knew how much NUDM made last year, but this exceeded our expectations,” she said. “We were totally awestruck with the students’ dedication, their passion and their commitment.”

Each pair of dancers was required to raise at least $750 to participate, and many raised more. Prizes and trophies were awarded to individuals and groups that raised the most money.

At the marathon’s start, the dancers displayed great energy, but as the hours passed, dancers sluggishly swayed about on the floor.

“I wasn’t sure how much of a toll this was going to take,” said A.J. Aguado, a Weinberg freshman, about six hours into the event.

However, by the last block of music, students regained their initial energy, jumping to tunes like “Life is a Highway.”

“Thirty hours may seem like a long time, but when you’re dancing for a cause like epilepsy (research), it goes by fast,” said Communication junior Adam Welton, an emcee.

The dancers were not the only people staying up during the 30-hour marathon; 12 committees with a total of about 400 members supported the dancers before, during and after the event.

Newcom, a McCormick senior, and Weinberg senior Nadia Rawls managed the event. One of their goals was to incorporate the vision of “One Cure, One Northwestern” into the marathon.

“Epilepsy is not something people readily talk about,” Newcom said. “It’s a very lonely disease.”

The money raised will be “an enormous boost” to CURE, Axelrod said.

“This is huge for us being a relatively small group,” Axelrod said. “We can now double the research for this year and raise awareness among the next generation of leaders.”

Reach Paul Takahashi at [email protected].

Find out more about Dance Marathon ’07 at http://dailynorthwestern.blogspot.com/