Pack-a-thon officials have announced they will be cutting the number of hours of this year’s upcoming event to 12 hours. This marks the first time in recent years that the event has not been its traditional 24-hour marathon. This announcement is not only disappointing but also sad.

Students look forward to this event each year and having it reduced by half will only hurt it. It’s never good to scale back on an event with the hope of improving it. Leaders of Pack-a-thon must realize the event does a lot to raise the level of awareness of the Children’s Hospital and scaling back on the event isn’t in the best interest of all.

Other options should be explored to keep Pack-a-thon as a 24-hour dance-a-thon. Adding or altering the current makeup of the event can lead to increased participation among students.

One addition leaders should consider is to have each participant dance for one child. Dancers would be given a picture of a child with the story of his or her life, thus giving participants a personal connection to the task of staying on their feet for 24 hours straight. During the event the hospital should continue to bring the children out to meet the dancers that are dancing for them, thus providing a boost to the students involved.

Further alternatives the committee can consider are getting top members of the campus community out to the event, such as Chancellor James Oblinger, men’s basketball coach Sidney Lowe or football coach Tom O’Brien. Having these individuals participate during the event would raise the overall profile and further excite students.

N.C. State is not the only university that hosts a dance-marathon style event, therefore planners can look to schools that already have a successful marathon. Schools like Penn State University not only dance for 24 hours, but go for three days. Penn State’s Dance Marathon had more than 700 dancers and raised over $5 million for The Four Diamonds Fund last year, a long-term goal that our Pack-a-thon should have.

Students get excited about Pack-a-thon. It’s now a part of student life on this campus, much like Shack-a-thon. The leadership of Pack-a-thon should investigate ways to bring back the 24-hour dance-a-thon. In the mean time, let’s make sure our dancing shoes are ready for Feb. 9.