If students are looking for a low-commitment way to get involved with NOVAdance, joining the Morale Committee (MoCo) is a great option.
Led by MoCo Chair Faith Bordenabe and Team Captains, Daisy Labella, Nora Grimes, Avery Nichols and Grace Mougalian, MoCo is the largest community within the NOVAdance organization. With an emphasis on inclusion, MoCo is for students who want to get involved with NOVAdance without a high level of commitment.
NOVAdance is Villanova’s year-long fundraising campaign, in partnership with the Andrew McDonough B+ (Be Positive) Foundation. Each spring, the fundraising concludes with a 12-hour dance marathon. In 2025, NOVAdance raised over $700,000 to support kids and families battling pediatric cancer.
Mougalian, Green Team MoCo Captain, wanted to get more involved with NOVAdance after hearing Joe McDonough speak about the foundation’s Be Positive message.
“The more involved I get, the more involved I want to become,” Mougalian said. “Everyone in NOVAdance is super excited to be there [and] super excited to be a part of something that’s bigger than themselves. I think meeting those people just made me feel that much more passionate about what I’m doing.”
Students can join MoCo at any time throughout the year. All they have to do is sign up, attend three meetings, raise at least $167 for the B+ Foundation and be at the dance marathon for all 12 hours.
Once signed up, students are randomly assigned to four teams: red, orange, green and blue. To exceed fundraising goals, all four MoCo teams are competing against each other for the MoCo Team Cup.
“At the end of the day, we all recognize that we’re all striving towards the same goals, a part of the same team,” Mougalian said. “But like I said, it’s just like a little bit of extra motivation if the competitiveness kind of resonates with some people.”
The winner is determined through a points system and will be announced at the end of the dance marathon.
“You can get points for engaging in the group chat, for going to meetings,” Nichols, MoCo Orange Team Captain, said. “You can get points for going to other NOVAdance events. It’s a way to get people interested, so you have the competition aspect. People love competition.”
As for the dance marathon itself, MoCo hour falls later in the day. During that time, members are encouraged to reach out to friends and family and make one final push for donations.
“Reach out to people you haven’t reached out to yet,” Nichols said. “Text your job, text your bosses, neighbors, text your babysitters, whatever you need to do to just push for extra money.”
Another aspect of marathon day for MoCo members, and what Mougalian is looking forward to most, is lip-sync hour. During the hour, teams can select a portion of a song, create a dance and put on a show for the audience.
“I think that’s gonna be a lot of fun,” Mougalian said. “We have a lot of amazing things in the works that’ll be revealed on the day of.”
Lip-sync hour falls towards the end of the marathon, just before the big reveal. At the end of the 12 hours, the total amount raised throughout the year will be announced.
“It is one of my favorite hours because I think it builds up the excitement,” Nichols said. “Everyone is crowding the stage, everyone’s cheering. I feel like it really brings everybody together and builds that excitement and anticipation for the rest of the day.”
From playing basketball with B+ heroes to dancing and singing with friends, out of all the responsibilities for MoCo members, Nichols thinks “making the most of the day” is the greatest.
This year’s dance marathon will take place from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on March 28 in the Dixon Center on the Cabrini Campus.
