By Kiersten Hacker

Each year, students usually dress up in bright colors and fill the Reckord Armory with high energy and hope as they dance their hearts out for the highly anticipated Terp Thon Dance Marathon. But this year, the Reckord Armory remained quiet as Terp Thon was forced to take on a virtual format due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Members of the University of Maryland community were still able to come together with Miracle Kids of Children’s National Hospital for a 12-hour marathon of dance and activities to raise funds and promote awareness for the pediatric hospital and their mission. Students, children and other viewers tuned in to a live Twitch stream Saturday to watch the Dance Marathon from the comfort of their own living space. 

The day was filled with activities ranging from Kahoot, to morale dances, to stories of Miracle Kids receiving treatment at Children’s National, to messages from members of the Terp community like President Darryll Pines. 

To conclude the marathon, Power Hour, or the last hour of dancing before the total amount raised is revealed, took place as usual, though now virtually. Mason, a Miracle Kid with a love for DJing, got to emcee the hour from his home while his sister was his backup dancer. After Power Hour, it was revealed that Terp Thon 2021 raised $286,138.39.

Terp Thon traditions were able to occur despite the new setting. Although hosting the event in person is ideal, Miracle Kids or family members who would not normally be able to make the trip to UMD to attend in person could now experience the event. 

“It’s been definitely different being in a virtual setting, but the one thing that I have loved over the course of this year is how close we can still be despite not being physically close,” said junior marketing and finance major and Terp Thon public relations chair Jake Maggid. 

While there may be physical distance between students, Miracle Kids, their families and other supporters, Zoom meetings, smaller fundraising events and social media have allowed for a deeper connection and preservation of the Terp Thon community. 

Maggid explained that a lot of hard work went into bolstering the bright, supportive community feeling without actually being together. 

For Jenna Oringher, a sophomore cell biology and genetics major and recruitment chair for 2020 to 2021, one of her favorite moments was watching all of her and her fellow members’ hard work come to life on screen and hearing positive feedback from the new audience the livestream reached.

She also enjoyed seeing the success of the quality experience they were able to uphold and innovate in a virtual environment and shared the utmost pride and love for her experience this year. 

“Instead of looking at the numbers, we wanted to make sure that every single person who signed up knew what we were doing, what Terp Thon is about, knew where the money is going and knew what they were getting into,” Oringher said.

Focusing on this cause allowed Terp Thon to stick to their mission to “be the light,” helping the children in Children’s National Hospital and caring for each other. 

“I wasn’t going to let a global pandemic stop us from raising 200 plus thousand in a day just for these kids at Children’s National,” said Samuel Dickstein, freshman recruitment captain and junior studying kinesiology. 

Inspired by the ambition and dedication of all Terp Thon members, Dickstein said he loves being a part of a bigger change.

Maggid, Oringher and Dickstein said that Terp Thon took on a new slogan this year, “Kids Can’t Wait.” 

“Especially now given how isolating of an environment it can be with the pandemic, it’s just really continuing to show our support no matter if we are on campus, if we are virtual, if we’re around the country, it really doesn’t matter.” Maggid said. “We’re all going to be there for the kids because they still need our help and they’ll continue to need our help and our mission doesn’t end just because we go from being in person to on a computer.”

Featured image: Terp Thon members perform the morale dance for the 2021 Dance Marathon while following COVID-19 guidelines. Photo by Kiersten Hacker