Community service is a big part of almost all student organizations at Gannon.

Athletic teams, clubs and Greek life organizations all participate is doing community service through the university.

While on the surface, the school and its organizations do an excellent job with volunteer efforts, I feel like there is a genuine lack of service morale among the students who participate.

Participating in community service should be something that students WANT to do, but sometimes I feel like students do it just because it is a requirement to be involved in their Greek life organization or university club.

Obviously not all students feel this way, but I can’t help but notice the group of students that do.

One particular event that has me questioning students’ motives for community service is the inaugural Children’s Miracle Network Dance Marathon that is being held at Gannon this weekend.

The dance marathon is a standing event meaning that all those who participate are expected to be on their feet and “dancing” for the duration of the event.

The purpose of this is that people will sponsor the dancers and this will raise the funds for the Children’s Miracle Network.

The discomfort that comes with being on your feet for however long — 12 hours in the case of Gannon’s marathon — is supposed to signify the discomfort and pain that the children with illnesses at the Miracle Network hospitals feel.

There is a purpose and a bigger picture that is supposed to go hand in hand with this event, and that’s what makes it such a special and successful thing for universities all across the nation.

It is rumored that some students who have signed up to dance the event at Gannon are planning on only dancing a portion of the intended time.

In my eyes, this is wrong for a number of reasons.

The children for whom you’re dancing don’t get to pick and choose when it’s convenient to be ill, so you shouldn’t get to pick and choose when it’s convenient for you to support them.

They don’t schedule an hour out of their day to have side effects and pain so you shouldn’t get to schedule an hour aside for their cause.

Granted, whether or not you’re on your feet for the full duration of the event is irrelevant to the amount of money you raise or your level of actual support, but I argue that it’s the principle of the thing.

If you’re really going to participate in this fundraiser out of the goodness of your heart, I don’t see how you can do so by giving it half effort.

This is the first year that Gannon is hosting its own dance marathon and because of this, I think it’s important that we give it the effort it deserves so that it can become an annual event.

I plan on standing and attempting to dance for the full duration of the event and I encourage all participants signed up to do the same.

So please, by all means, join me for a very embarrassing “whip,” “nae nae” or “dab” if you see me Saturday at the Rec. I promise it’ll only be semi-embarrassing but at least it’ll be out of the goodness of my very dorky heart.

OLIVIA BURGER
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