The third annual University Dance Marathon to raise funds for the Janet Weis Children’s Hospital was recently cancelled.

There were many reasons that the event had to be cancelled, but the two main reasons were the high cost and low fundraising potential.

The cost for the event amounted to about $8,000, an exorbitant cost relative to the $700 which was donated with only 10 days left before the event. The marathon’s total fundraising goal this year was $25,000.

Additionally, the Interfraternity Council (IFC) dropped its support of the event. IFC and the Panhellenic Council typically work together to run the marathon, with IFC providing a large portion of funding and support.

“This was a super hard decision for me to make and it still kind of breaks my heart, but in the long run it’s about what’s best for the kids,” Dance Marathon chair Liz Hammond ’18 said.

The marathon committee plans to host smaller fundraising events throughout the rest of the semester, in hopes that they might get closer to their goal. Hammond encourages people who have made fundraising pages to continue using them.

There is hope that the University will build the Dance Marathon name and reputation through smaller events, in order to make the event more successful in years to come.

“After discussing what we thought the goals of the event were, which are to raise awareness and funds for the children, we decided this was a better option,” Hammond said.