Quinnipiac University students show off dance moves to raise more than $31,000 for Connecticut Children’s Medical Center

Quinnipiac University finance students A.J. Billingsley and Ryan Laguna both admit to having two left feet, but that did not stop them from dancing the night away for a good cause on March 1 at Burt Kahn Court.

Billingsley and Laguna organized QTHON, a six-hour dance marathon that included 583 participants and raised $31,174 for Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford.

“Our goal was $30,000,” said Laguna, a junior from Scotch Plains, N.J. “Breaking that was a big accomplishment for us.

“I’m an awful dancer,” Laguna added. “I did my best.”

QTHON was organized by Delta Tau Delta and was part of Dance Marathon, a nationwide movement involving college and high school students at more than 150 schools which raises money for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital in their community.

Billingsley and Laguna visited Connecticut Children’s Medical Center prior to the dance and invited families who have benefited from the hospital to participate and speak at QTHON.

“The hospital really caters to the kids and makes them as comfortable as possible,” said Laguna, who is also president of Delta Tau Delta. “Meeting and talking to the kids really opens your eyes. Our generation is big when it comes to philanthropy and it’s something you can easily connect to. It really hits home when you are dealing with children.”

QTHON 2014 was the third such event at Quinnipiac and the first since December 2012. The last one raised $20,000 and had 280 dancers.

“We’ve branched out to make it a community event,” said Billingsley, a senior from Walpole, Mass. “We had teams from a number of organizations, from the nursing association to Greek life to the Latino Cultural Society. They hung out with and got to know the families. It will have a lasting impact on the younger students in the organizations.”

Quinnipiac is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution located 90 minutes north of New York City and two hours from Boston. The university enrolls 6,400 full-time undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students in 58 undergraduate and more than 20 graduate programs of study in its School of Business and Engineering, School of Communications, School of Education, School of Health Sciences, School of Law, Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine, School of Nursing and College of Arts and Sciences. Quinnipiac consistently ranks among the top regional universities in the North in U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges issue. The 2014 issue of U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges named Quinnipiac as the top up-and-coming school with master’s programs in the Northern Region. Quinnipiac also is recognized in Princeton Review’s “The Best 377 Colleges.” The Chronicle of Higher Education has named Quinnipiac among the “Great Colleges to Work For.” For more information, please visit www.quinnipiac.edu. Connect with Quinnipiac on Facebook at www.facebook.com/quinnipiacuniversity and follow Quinnipiac on Twitter @QuinnipiacU.