Indiana University’s Dance Marathon, the 36-hour event where over 4,000 students raise money for Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, is this weekend at the IU Tennis Center.
Over the years, IUDM has raised over $56 million for the hospital. The marathon starts at 8 p.m. Friday and continues until the fundraising reveal at 8 a.m. Sunday.
There are over 1,200 committee members who work on the event. Morgan Davis, IUDM’s Marathon Relations Director, started in December of last year to prepare for this weekend.
“It is a long process to get the marathon to what it is this weekend,” Davis said.
Each executive member has a different role in ensuring the marathon is a success. The executive board is made up of a president, four vice presidents, and 18 directors.
There are four main committees: communication, finance, internal, and membership. Each of these categories have committees under them.
Davis has been participating in dance marathons since high school when she joined her high school’s marathon.
“Whenever a dance marathon was created at my high school, I was just looking for a fun club to join,” said Davis. “It quickly became something I fell in love with and could not get enough of.”
This weekend, she will participate in her seventh marathon.
“Every marathon has just been pure magic,” said Davis. “It sounds kind of crazy, but they’ve been different in their own aspects, but they all have the same overarching feeling of just magic. It is truly something that is hard to explain to people unless you are there in the room.”
Like many members of this philanthropy, Davis has a personal tie to Riley. Two of her family members were treated at children’s hospitals.
“I had a cousin who was treated at Saint Jude for Hodgkin's Lymphoma,” Davis said. “I knew I wanted to give back to the cause after seeing her fight that whole, long fight with cancer. I was very young when she was diagnosed but it was something that had a lasting impact on me.”
Another one of Davis’s family members has cystic fibrosis and was treated at a children’s hospital in Minnesota.
Dancer registration is closed for this year's marathon, but registration for next year is in the spring and fall of 2026.
