For 24 hours straight, a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity sat in a rocking chair on 24th Street to raise money for the American Cancer Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. 

Finance and government senior William Glick was participating in a Rock-a-thon, which started at 12 a.m. Saturday and ended 12 a.m. Sunday. While it featured other events such as Chick-fil-A specials, speeches from cancer survivors and country dancing, the rocking served as a way to draw people in, according to Jonathon Shaham, electrical engineering freshman and AEPi philanthropy chair.

“[The rocking] serves as that interesting quirk and everything is happening around it,” Shaham said. “When I go and tell people about it and say ‘There’s going to be a guy in a rocking chair for 24 hours straight and he can’t get up,’ people always ask me more about it.”

AEPi member Glick said he volunteered for the 24-hour shift because he knew it was for a valuable cause.

“Cancer is a disease that affects everyone personally in some way,” Glick said. “Anything we can do to prolong the lives and end the suffering of people who have it is a worthy cause.”

Glick said the rocking wasn’t a bad experience, but he struggled to continue rocking the entire time because of fatigue and hunger. 

“There was two hours of rain last night and things were a little sketchy,” Glick said. “Otherwise it’s been really great. I’ve had a lot of support from people and that’s made it much easier … I’m pretty tired and hungry but still feeling good.”

As of yesterday morning, the event had raised $2,626. Funds were raised through an online donation page and from members asking for donations in South Congress, and will go toward general cancer research and families affected by cancer. Shaham said the Rock-a-thon is the most successful event AEPi has hosted.

Other members of sororities and spirit groups rocked alongside Glick in thirty-minute intervals. Visual arts studies freshman Haley Hill, a member of Alpha Chi Omega, said she decided to rock after receiving encouragement from AEPi members and enjoyed seeing all the support for the Rock-a-thon.

“It’s so cool to see everyone out here supporting everyone,” Hill said. “ACS is really important for me because I know people who have been diagnosed with cancer. I think all the money is going to a great place and that’s why I’m so willing to support it.”