This year I am proud to announce our very first UT Student Appreciation Day! This celebration is to recognize the wonderful participation and level of civic service displayed by our students throughout this school year. The event will coincide with the Bike Week Kick Off April 23^rd, from 11 am- 1pm on the Centennial Mall.

The celebration is being sponsored by the Office of the VP for the Student Experience, and will provide FREE pizza and wings! The event will begin with some opening remarks and the food will be served around 11:30 am.

The celebration will honor UT students, who raised $150,300 for charity events during the academic year and volunteered over 18,871 hours of their time! Additionally, 12,287 students volunteered in the Toledo community including the 1,000 student volunteers at the BIG Event, which is a student-run day of service dedicated to helping out with various community development projects.

Our students are a great source of pride, and to see them meet the outreach and engagement goals of the strategic plan through service learning and “paying it forward” is truly moving. Their sense of caring and their dedication to helping others in the local community exemplifies the values that the University of Toledo stands for.

I would also like to take this chance to mention that Dance Marathon was a huge success, raising over $55,000 for the Mercy Children’s Hospital. Thank you to all who volunteered your time and work in making this UT tradition a success!

In total, over 122,272 students attending student organization events and various campus-run programs during the academic year and this outstanding level of participation shows just how wonderful and special UT students are. Their commitment and enthusiasm has made this year a huge success and this inaugural Student Appreciation Day is our way of showing our gratitude.

Thanks for all of your hard work and see you at the event!
-KPW

See below for a complete schedule of Bike Week events

April is for dancing! This Friday (April 13^th) brings another growing campus tradition, the UT Dance Marathon! The UTDM is a philanthropy event that first arrived on campus in 2001, and raises money for the St. Vincent Mercy Children’s Hospital, located right here in the Toledo community.

The Dance Marathon is an 18 hour event organized and executed by a student run organization here on campus, and has raised just under $400,000 during its time on campus (including $59,000 last in 2011).  This year, we have already surpassed $30,000, on the way to our goal of $80,000.

The Marathon is a fun and unique experience, and I encourage all of you to participate or donate. The dancing starts at 7:12 pm this Friday in the Rec Center and the hundreds of volunteers will continue until 12:12 pm on Saturday. It is sure to be a great time and it is for a great cause, you won’t want to miss it!

For information about registration or donating to the event, go here. For general information about the University of Toledo Dance Marathon, visit the website here!

Want to see some of your classmates’ best moves or just want to know what to expect? Check out the Dance Marathon from 2011.

Good luck and please donate!
-KPW