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SHIMMYING INTO GUINNESS RECORD FAME: RYERSON STUDENTS UNOFFICIALLY SMASH RECORD FOR LARGEST SOUL TRAIN DANCE

TORONTO, Aug. 28, 2013 --- It’s official, almost. Over 500 Ryerson students, faculty and staff shimmied and boogied their way to unofficially break the Guinness World record for the largest soul train dance.

Since its television debut in 1971 with Don Cornelius as the host, Soul Train was the show to check out the coolest dance moves, especially during the program’s Soul Train Line.

Members of Ryerson’s orientation team, university staff and Ryerson Students’ Union greeted the enthusiastic crowd of mostly first-year students who gathered on the campus quad before the challenge got underway.

As DJ Ross Arbour spun 70s hits, 522 students strutted their way down two lines in the university’s quad, breaking the previous record of 291 dancers outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Pennsylvania last February.

This is Ryerson’s seventh annual Guinness World Record Challenge, and it is a highlight of Orientation Week for many first-year students. Previous Guinness World Record challenges at Ryerson include the largest cowbell ensemble, the biggest dance class, the largest maracas ensemble and the largest plastic sword fight.

Guinness World Record officials will confirm Ryerson’s unofficial record in the coming weeks. The challenge was sponsored by the Toronto Restaurant Salad King.

Photo Gallery:

Photo credit: Clifton Li Photography

To find more back-to-school news, including experts on getting along with your new roommate, dorm décor on a dime and protecting online privacy, visit: www.ryerson.ca/news/media/spotlight/bts2013

Ryerson University is Canada's leader in innovative, career-oriented education and a university clearly on the move. With a mission to serve societal need, and a long-standing commitment to engaging its community, Ryerson offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate programs. Distinctly urban, culturally diverse and inclusive, the university is home to more than 38,000 students, including 2,300 master's and PhD students, nearly 2,700 faculty and staff, and more than 140,000 alumni worldwide. Research at Ryerson is on a trajectory of success and growth: externally funded research has doubled in the past four years. The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education is Canada's leading provider of university-based adult education. For more information, visit www.ryerson.ca

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