SUSA Increases Community Involvement

            The Smith Undergraduate Association (SUSA) has increased their participation in community service events this year, in an effort to become more involved in the campus community.

The events, which will all take place in April, include a food drive, Relay for Life, UMD Dance Marathon and ServeDC. According to SUSA President Chris Corragio, SUSA's involvement in community service has more than doubled from last year.

"The four events we are having this semester is more than we had all last year," said Corragio.

This is the first year that SUSA will be participating in Serve DC, Relay for Life, or the university's first UMD Dance Marathon. While SUSA usually prefers volunteering directly rather than by donating money, they saw the Dance Marathon as an opportunity to get more involved in campus life.

"The reasons why we decided to participate was because we thought it was a fun event that was community oriented," said Corragio. "I don't want to be our own little community. I think there is an opportunity to reach out to other people and work with them."

The 18-hour Dance Marathon, a first at the University of Maryland, has incorporated many different organizations on campus and will be the philanthropy event for Greek Week.

"A lot of student groups have been signing up, a lot of freshmen. Basically all the young kids in the area can enjoy the food and the activities," said sophomore Jordan Nazar, the communications chair for Dance Marathon.

In addition to dancing, there will be games, activities, and live performances including disk jockeys and maybe even live bands, said Nazaar. The Dance Marathon will take place from April 24 at 4 p.m. to April 25 at 10:56 a.m at Cole Field House.