For co-chairs, DM serves as "culmination"

McCormick fifth-year student Chip Newcom and Weinberg senior Nadia Rawls didn't sleep much in the week leading up to Dance Marathon.

Rawls estimated the two put in "80 to 100 hours" of work for DM and skipped almost all of their classes.

But the effort is worth it, they said.

"We've worked our way up," Rawls said. "It's kind of like the culmination of years of work."

So far the event has gone almost completely on schedule, which has allowed both Newcom and Rawls to enjoy the event.

"It's just so exciting because we've both been working on this for such a long time," Newcom said. "I'm so excited to see the next couple of hours."

Both of the executive co-chairs said they felt their goals coming into this year's event had been accomplished. Rawls said she was most proud of how all of the DM committees, especially the public relations committee, had improved. Newcom said the event allowed a large group of Northwestern students to work toward a common cause.

"(DM built) a sense of community based upon the idea that we can all change the world," Newcom said. "If we can do that from an outreach standpoint, we'll really have succeeded."

Newcom and Rawls have both participated in DM since they were freshmen and their feelings as DM enters its final hours are bittersweet.

"On the one hand, it'll be exciting," Newcom said. "But at the same standpoint, it'll be coming to a close."

Text: Nomaan Merchant/The Daily Northwestern
Photo: Tommy Giglio/The Daily Northwestern