Phi Mu sets new bar for philanthropy with first ever dance marathon

Casey McAnarney, Editor in Chief

Hosting the first ever dance marathon on campus, UNC Wilmington’s chapter of Phi Mu set a new bar for philanthropy through Dubthon.

Co-hosted with Pi Sigma Epsilon, the professional marketing and sales fraternity on campus, Dubthon raised near $33,000 for the Duke Children’s Hospital in Raleigh.

According to the event’s Facebook page, the “mission” was to “bring together the UNCW students and the Wilmington community to actively support and encourage the children that are patients at Duke Children’s Hospital.”

All proceeds from the event went towards the Duke Children’s Hospital.

The event, which took place in New Hanover Gym on Saturday, Jan. 28, had local sponsors as well as performances from local and UNCW performers.

Bruno Rose, one of the co-hosts of the event, was responsible for introducing performers and families from the hospital as well as getting people excited and to “remind them why they are here.”

“[Dubthon] has been really hype,” Rose said. “A lot of dancing, a lot of partying and fun. A lot of sending people to ‘jail.’ Most people have been on their feet the entire time.”

When Rose mentioned “sending people to ‘jail,'” he referred to one of the fundraising activities present at Dubthon. Individuals at the dance could pay to put a friend in “jail” and others could pay to have that person released. All proceeds from this as well as from the dance marathon went towards the charity.

Rose said that about 200-300 people were in attendance at the event throughout the day. An estimate from Cole Eddings, fundraising coordinator and co-executive director of Dubthon, was around 300 people that participated.

The event was expected to garner only about 250 people, but after seeing that 357 people had signed up for the event, Phi Mu raised their goal for the night from $15,000 to $30,000.

This first-year program is the top fundraising first year program nationally for dance programs, according to Eddings.

“I think we have really changed the game with this event,” Eddings said. “Organizations on campus are use to raising a few thousand dollars, and when you raise tens of thousands, it can of change people’s minds about our capabilities as a campus.”

Eddings said that Phi Mu and PSE are thankful for the participation of community members and especially for the participation of their “miracle children” in the event. Patients from the hospital were actually present at the event and performed. Eddings also thanked performers like the High Seas, Physical Grafeeti and Slaint for partaking in the dance marathon.

Eddings suggested that next year, they will bring back Dubthon for “double the time, and double the total.”