Up ’til Dawn, a program that does much more than fundraise for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, fundraising events culminated in a party Saturday night in the Field House, which brought in a profit of about $700 by itself through donations and ticket purchases.
Students who attended had the chance to win a variety of prizes and gift certificates, which amounted to about $500 that was donated by local businesses and restaurants. Student performers volunteered their time at this party, including the neo-progressive rock band Dictators and Fools, Eastman students like sophomores Kirsten Swanson and Sarah Frisof, and the cultural student group ADITI.
Students who attended the party had the opportunity to make cards for Colton, a three year old from upstate New York with medulloblastoma. Colton was supposed to attend part of the 12-hour party, but was unable to come because of a worsened condition. A large stack of colorful cards will be delivered to him in the coming days.
The Up ’til Dawn party only began at 12 p.m. and ended an hour and a half earlier than anticipated ? at 10:30 p.m. ? because one of the bands scheduled to perform did not show.
“I want Up ’til Dawn to be bigger next year,” Vaughn said, “but we had a consistent flow of people at the party throughout the night.” With 31 tickets sold at the Common Market and a “ton” sold at the door, the party was certainly successful.
Sophomore Julie Fagan played with Frisof. “It was nice to play for a good cause regardless of how many people were there,” she said.
“The amount of time and effort that Sarah put into this project was exemplary,” Smith said. “She was so coordinated and creative.”
Approximately 80 colleges and universities across the nation currently participate in Up ’til Dawn. St. Jude is a hospital committed to finding cures for children with catastrophic illnesses. Up ’til Dawn is committed to making money for St. Jude, as well as educating communities across the nation about childhood illnesses and what can be done to aid affected children and their families.
Senior Sarah Vaughn served as the executive director of Up ’til Dawn this year, tailoring the program to UR with the help of St. Jude’s Northeast Regional Representative Erica Wilczynski. Up ’til Dawn is an enormous undertaking on any campus ? through the leadership efforts of these students, the UR community was able to amass over $7,000 for St. Jude after a final event last Saturday afternoon and night. Vaughn worked closely with Director of Greek Affairs Monica Miranda, Interim Director of Student Activities Anne-Marie Algier and Office of Minority Student Affairs counselor Gladys Pedraza-Burgos.
“It’s very Greek-driven on most campuses,” one of Vaughn’s staff sophomore Jennifer Smith said. Similarly to other colleges, Greek groups from Rochester’s chapter of Up ’til Dawn participated by volunteering efforts and money from several Panhellenic sororities.
Sigma Delta Tau raised the most money of the seven official teams, contributing $530. The Students’ Association Senate also participated in the event. A team from SUNY Geneseo also raised $325 to add to UR’s final total.
Teams of students did individual fundraisers to raise money for Up ’til Dawn, like Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, who organized a can and bottle drive in Susan B. Anthony Hall. Teams also participated, along with nonaffiliated students, in the events planned and sponsored by Up ’til Dawn ? a Halloween Movie Night in Hoyt Hall, Rent-a-Rambler with the Midnight Ramblers, and a Basketball Tournament organized by Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.
Weiss can be reached at jweiss@campustimes.org.
