Collegiate Times

Tonight, students can work out for a cause.  

From 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. in McComas Hall, Recreational Sports will host a Zumba event where participants can have fun, exercise and help raise money for breast cancer research. 

At this free event, sponsored by Subway and Sayre Promotional Products, the first 100 participants to arrive will receive a gift certificate for a 6-inch Subway sandwich. 

In addition, participants are asked to wear pink and purchase a "Party in Pink" T-shirt, which will be sold at the event for $5.

Liz Greenlee, fitness coordinator for Rec Sports, said the money will go directly to Relay for Life to help fund breast cancer research.

In the past, the event has raised about $800 from T-shirt sales. 

“We have 150 shirts that we would like to sell,” Greenlee said.

Group exercise supervisor Stephanie Mateus, a junior psychology major, has been working with Rec Sports since her freshman year and is helping to put the event together.

Mateus wants to make the event more interactive than it has been in the past. Normally, all the instructors dance on a stage in front of the group in order to demonstrate the choreography. 

“This year,” Mateus said, “we’re going to try to bring a little more formation to it.”

Some of the instructors move off the stage and into the crowd to interact with the participants.  Different instructors will have certain areas to stand and dance in, which will help bring organization to the large event.

Mateus hopes that this interactive format will make the Party in Pink event an upbeat, positive experience that will allow everyone to be “really comfortable in their skin and with each other.”

“Zumba is very flexible.  It’s just like a big party; it’s not rigid.  That’s what makes it fun and very comfortable,” Mateus said. 

Kendal Ragusky, a freshman biology major, is interested in attending the event.

“I think it’s for such a good cause, and it’s a great way to bring the community together. Plus, it’s a fun way to get exercise,” Ragusky said.

Mateus and Greenlee stress that the event is open to anyone.  They encourage any student to come out and enjoy the party, even those without any prior Zumba or exercise class experience. 

Registration is not required, but Mateus does recommend arriving early, because in the past, roughly 200 students attended and the event filled up quickly.

Follow this writer on Twitter: @rarobertson93

A version of this article appeared in the Oct 17 issue of the Collegiate Times.