Dance Marathon’s executive board released a statement last month saying they are working on making DM “more inclusive, accessible and engaging” for the Northwestern community.

The statement, which was posted on the organization’s Facebook page, said DM’s executive board has met with a variety of campus leaders in an effort to better understand how the organization can improve both “in and out of the tent.”

In the statement, the organization said it plans to engage in partnerships with other student groups, providing more opportunities for students to meet the beneficiaries and offering more mentorship and organized fundraising to support and assist students in meeting the minimum fundraising goal.

The executive board also said it will increase transparency regarding its structure, leadership and other decisions. DM co-chair Ander Aretakis said the organization realized that although a lot of that information is public, the group needed to improve how it was communicating it.

“The number one thing that comes to mind is why the final total that we reveal at the end of Dance Marathon is not equal to the sum of the checks that we give to the beneficiaries,” he said. “That’s because the difference between those dollar units represent the value of in-kind donations that we receive to make Dance Marathon an event such as the food and production equipment.”

Earlier this year, student leaders wrote a letter to The Daily urging DM to be “an organization that every Northwestern student can have access to and be proud of.” The student leaders specifically asked DM to diversify its leadership and make more efforts to include all campus communities.

The letter said DM privileges specific students due to their racial and socio-economic backgrounds. The student leaders also created a Tumblr page that featured student testimonials about DM.

At the end of April, DM’s outgoing executive board and the new co-chairs, Aretakis and rising Weinberg senior David Ryan, met with many of the authors that wrote the letter to The Daily. The meeting was structured as a simulated Sustained Dialogue session.

Noor Hasan (WCAS ’14), who was one of the letter’s authors, said the meeting gave attendees an opportunity to reflect on their experiences with DM and also focus on ways to address some of the letter’s concerns. She said although there were points of contention during the meeting, the discussion was successful.

“The tone of the conversation was very reflective,” she said. “Of course there were moments where everyone didn’t agree, but I think the point of Sustained Dialogue, and that model specifically, isn’t necessarily to get everyone in the room to agree on the same issue, but to understand that there are different perspectives that exist especially when you’re talking about issues of identity related to race, gender, sexuality and socioeconomic status.”

Aretakis said the organization will continue to solicit feedback and plans to keep discussing ways DM can improve.

“It’s not a closed conversation by any means, and it’s not something that we are going to completely fix this year,” he said. “This is when we start the process for fixing it. It’s something that will continue for at least a few more years to come.”

DM’s primary beneficiary for 2015 is Starlight Midwest, a Chicago-based organization focused on improving the lives and health of chronically ill children and their families.

(Starlight Midwest chosen as primary beneficiary of 2015 Dance Marathon)

DM will be held March 6 to 8, 2015.

This article has been updated with comments from DM co-chair Ander Aretakis and Noor Hasan (WCAS ’14).

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