Although it was past most people’s bedtime, the Beaman Student Life Center was abuzz with energy Friday night.
Since October, Belmont has been raising money to donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. On Friday, all the efforts culminated into the Up ‘til Dawn event.
Students raised more than $47,000 to go toward St. Jude, surpassing the original $25,000 goal. To celebrate, the Beaman was turned into a full-out party beginning at midnight.
“I could not have wished for anything better,” said Allie Gospel, one of the student coordinators for the event. “It’s far better than anything we imagined.”
To help students make it until morning, pizza, coffee, cookies and snacks were offered. It wasn’t uncommon to see someone wander by with an energy drink, either.
Students were divided into teams of about six people and participated in challenges throughout the night, the first of which was making a team flag.
Along with the team events, there was also an inflatable boxing ring, a photo booth and a game room packed to the brim with games such as air hockey, arcade basketball and foosball. There was even a Mario Kart tournament set up.
This was only the first year for the fundraiser, and after the success they had, the coordinators are hoping to make it an annual event.
“This event can only get bigger and better from here,” junior Jayton Gray said. “I want Belmont students to know that this is something they can get used to looking forward to.”