Purple gloves take Georgia College by storm

If you’ve been near Georgia College’s campus during the last month or so, chances are pretty good that you’ve seen lots of students wearing purple gloves and dancing around enthusiastically in front of a camera.

So, what’s the big deal?

Just ask the girl with the camera in her hand, senior psychology major Jaquie Beute.

"The Purple Glove Dance was made in an effort to raise awareness and donations for support of Relay For Life!” Jaquie explained when she posted her video of the dance on Youtube.  “The students, faculty, and staff of Georgia College & State University put on their purple gloves and danced for the cure, and the Milledgeville community got behind the project and showed their support as well.”

The idea started with the staff of Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Ore., who filmed themselves dancing around their hospital wearing pink gloves to raise breast cancer awareness.  With almost seven million Youtube views, the Providence video is an Internet sensation.  When Jaquie saw it, she decided she wanted to do something similar for a good cause. 

“I work in the GIVE Center,” said Jaquie, “and we found a box of purple gloves.  I thought, ‘Maybe I could use those.’”  

After she’d already decided to make the video, Jaquie discovered an online contest with the very same idea, sponsored by Cause Keepers and 4thefight.com. She knew right away that she wanted to participate. 

Each Purple Glove Dance video entered in the contest is backed by a Relay for Life team, and the winning team with the most Youtube video views by midnight on July 31 will be presented with a check made out to the American Cancer Society for at least $5,000.  The check will be augmented by a percentage of the sales profit from each box of purple gloves sold at 4thefight.com during the contest period.  

Jaquie uploaded Georgia College’s video entry to Youtube on Feb. 23, and by noon on March 1, it was already leading the contest with more than 11,600 views.

The video took about two months to complete, from the early planning stages to the final edit, and showcases the stylish moves of the members of several Georgia College organizations, including SGA, RSA, the varsity cheerleaders, and the Sassy Cats dance team. 

Many sororities and fraternities are also represented in the video. Jaquie even convinced two different psychology classes to pause briefly in their studies and don the purple gloves.

“The most difficult part was organizing the big dance out on the front lawn,” said Jaquie.  “Event planning has never been my forte.  I’m better in support roles and behind the scenes, but I was really passionate about this.”  

Jaquie arranged for a choreographer to help with the large group dance, which was filmed from overhead using a skybucket.  

“Being the primary coordinator for this project was very stressful,” Jaquie said, “but when everyone got so excited about it, that really fueled my passion.  I think we were extremely successful!”

To watch the video and help Georgia College and Jaquie win the $5,000 for Relay for Life, visit                                        http://tinyurl.com/purpleglovedance.