Dance Marathon at FSU support for Florida State University College of Medicine tops $11.5 million

Support from Dance Marathon at FSU (DM@FSU) for the Florida State University College of Medicine has reached new heights with the student-led organization’s latest donation.

DM@FSU raises funds for pediatric medical care. The 2026 DM@FSU, the 31st year for the event, raised a little over $1.5 million, and the group’s donation to the college this year was $697,380.85. That donation brought total support since the College of Medicine was added as a beneficiary in 2003 to more than $11.5 million.

Hundreds of students participate in DM@FSU, the largest student-run philanthropy on campus. It’s an entire year of fundraising and planning, culminating in a whirlwind three-day event with closing ceremonies held the first Sunday in March. Many of the college’s partners in pediatric outreach attend the check ceremony each fall, staffing tables to explain how they use DM@FSU funds to expand and enhance access to healthcare.

Emmanuella Essien, 2027 DM@FSU executive director, explained why the students put their hearts into the effort.

“The mission of Dance Marathon is greater than the dollars raised,” she said. “It’s about bringing people together around something that matters, while helping ensure kids have access to the care they need and families don’t have to face difficult moments alone.”

The organization is one of the five founding dance marathons in the Children’s Miracle Network, and it continues to be one of the most successful at raising money for children’s healthcare.

At an Oct. 5 celebration in the FSU College of Medicine atrium, Dean Dr. Alma B. Littles noted that DM@FSU has consistently finished in the top five among dance marathons supporting the network.

“Our dance marathon here at FSU actually raised more money this year than the Dance Marathon the same weekend at our sister university over in Gainesville, my alma mater,” Littles said. “But no matter which school brings in the most money, the beauty of friendly competition for a worthy cause means everybody wins — very different from that last weekend in November!”

This was the 12th year that DM@FSU topped the $1 million mark, with the proceeds divided between the College of Medicine’s pediatric outreach programs and UF Health’s Shands Children’s Hospital in Gainesville, the region’s Children’s Miracle Network hospital.

Dr. Rashmin Savani, chair of the University of Florida College of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics and Shands’ physician-in-chief, heads a delegation from UF Health each year to thank the dancers for their support.

“It’s all about making meaningful change for families and children that have diseases that end them up in hospitals, that put their future in doubt,” he said. “And it’s the things that you do that alter the outcome. Just think about that. I couldn’t be more grateful for all the things that you do. Thank you again.”

Since its creation in 1995 and first marathon in 1996, DM@FSU has raised almost $25 million.