For Its 40th Anniversary, Northwestern University Dance Marathon Takes on the Fight Against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Hey, this is Lily from Northwestern University. I’m helping plan the 40th anniversary of our Dance Marathon and wanted to tell you about it.

In the past 39 years, Northwestern University Dance Marathon has raised more than $14 million for more than thirty different worthy and important beneficiaries. Now, for the 40th anniversary of the all student led 30-hour dance event, NUDM is taking on the fight against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and dancing for Team Joseph.

Created in 1975, NUDM has grown to be one of the world’s largest collegiate philanthropies, raising over a million dollars for the past 3 years in a row. What started out with fifteen couples dancing for epilepsy has grown into one of the most community oriented and popular events on campus, bringing in the support and participation of thousands of students each year.

This year, the main beneficiary is Team Joseph. Formed around the fight of Joseph Penrod, Team Joseph began with a mother who wouldn’t let her son be defined by his diagnosis of Duchenne.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the most common degenerative genetic muscle disease in boys. It is 100% fatal, and affects 1 boy out of every 3,500. For these young men, the life expectancy is only in the early 20s. 99% of the 20,000 new cases of Duchenne appearing every year are appearing in boys.

Dance Marathon is all about bringing together a community and showing just how much of a difference we can make when we work together. This year, we dance not just to raise money. We dance not just to raise awareness. We dance because Joseph can’t. We dance for every little boy out there who will never get the chance to dance, and we dance to try to change that.

For more information, or to make a donation to Northwestern University Dance Marathon, visit nudm.org.