Cecilia Engbert
Assistant Editor
Students danced and sang the night away at a 12-hour dance-a-thon in the J.C. Williams Center atrium 8 p.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Sunday.
The Franciscan Beat, a university TV/News station, claimed the lower section of the J.C. for its first fundraiser, an all-night “Bring the Beat Back” dance event, with each hour themed around a different period of music from the 1920s to the 2020s. International and worship music were included in the mix.
The original intent was for students to sign up as a “pledge” in groups of 1-8 or as regular attendants. Pledge dancers could be sponsored by friends and family to earn money for a favorite charity, said Sophomore Angelina Toole, a member of the Beat.
Pledge dancers were required to stay the duration of the event.
Few students participated as pledge groups, but the most money was raised by one group who donated to a brain cancer charity.
Regular attendants, those who came and went, paid $4 at the door for admittance.
Many students came solely to sing karaoke and eat the large amounts of food that stacked the tables. Students also played musical chairs during dancing breaks.
The first hour, music from the 20s, 30s and 40s filled the J.C., and people slowly trickled in. As the music progressed through time and the evening became later, more students showed up, with a peak attendance around 10 p.m. to midnight.
Participants danced the whole night with scheduled 10-15 minutes breaks to grab water, food and a quick seat. Pizza from Dominos was provided along with other assorted snacks and sandwiches.
Toole said the idea for the event was to “do something that could really excite the student body; get them pumped.”
Junior Lucy Siwko, also a member of the Beat, said when she left Sunday at 2:30 a.m., there were still many students there.
“Honestly, we were really surprised we had such a big turnout for our very first fundraiser,” she said. “It was a lot of fun! I was really excited that everyone danced and no one really stood around. … It was a ton of fun, and the Beat members are all super grateful to everyone who came out and helped support our club.”
T-shirts and coupons for free drinks from Cupertino’s were given as prizes to those who stayed the entire night.
Senior Marya Squire said, “I’m close to two of the girls that are helping to run it; they’re both part of Franciscan Beat as scriptwriters, and they’ve been really excited about it for the past two weeks, or even month. And I’ve just been having fun getting more people to come and party.”
Senior Danielle Huber, who stayed the entire time, said, “By the time it was over, I was surprisingly awake after only getting 30 minutes of sleep. But after 8 a.m. Mass and a shower, I crashed.”
The Beat raised over $200 at the event, Toole said.