Knight-Thon revealed its theme and goal for 2017-2018 on Monday evening as students gathered in the CFE Arena lobby.
Students gasped and cheered as the banners fell to reveal the new theme, “Write Your Own Legacy”. Unlike last year’s $1.2 million goal reveal, these banners were blank. Amanda Marotta, the executive director of Knight-Thon, announced there will not be a fundraising goal this year.
“We are a growing program, we have hit crazy totals the past few years and our potential is only being slightly fulfilled,” Marotta said. “We think that our campus truly does have the power to do so much more than a specific number.”
In accordance with the theme, Marotta said: “what were really looking for is for the teams to set their own goals and make their own miracles and leave their own legacies.”
In past years, dancers would fundraise for months prior to the 20-hour dance marathon, where they crossed their fingers at the end of the night, hoping to crush their goal. In 2016, dancers raised $1,250,961, barely exceeding the goal.
“I think it’s a good goal actually. Now it’s not a number, raise as much as you can”, Daniel Canielkan, a UCF student, said.
Regardless of the goal, students are already raising money for the kids, in support of Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Central Florida’s Children’s Miracle Network hospital. Students will dance for 20 hours at the CFE Arena April 7, where they hope to make an impact on children’s lives.
