“I can’t believe I feel this good. I feel like a million dollars right now,” said Alpha Epsilon Pi’s Chris Genovese in his 50th consecutive hour of ‘rocking.’
In AEPi’s inaugural “Rockathon,” benefitting the Gift of Life Marrow Registry, Genovese sat in a rocking chair on the Foote Green outside of Richter Library for a whopping 55 hours without a break. He sat from 11:17pm on Thursday, April 3 to 6:17pm on Saturday, April 5.
For Genovese, the cause is personal. His grandfather, Ronald Lenzo, lost his life to blood cancer. “His birthday was the 17th of June, so ‘getting up’ at 6:17 is symbolic of him and his legacy,” Genovese said.
Genovese declined to comment on the toll that 55 consecutive hours of sitting took on his body. “I’ve got the best team of people supporting me, mentally, physically, emotionally … with food, water and company,” he said.
Gift of Life Marrow Registry is a non-profit organization that facilitates blood stem cell and bone marrow transplants for patients battling blood cancer. UM’s Gift of Life ambassadors were on-site at Rockathon on Thursday and Friday, swabbing almost 300 students and faculty. Those swabbed will enter the registry and become eligible to donate these life-saving cells if and when they ‘match’ with a blood cancer patient.
AEPi’s first-ever Rockathon raised over $53,000 for Gift of Life.
The more than two-day fundraiser featured a plethora of activities that kept energy high, including a petting zoo, food vendors, performances by UM club dance teams and student bands, a body-building competition and a yoga class.
“We’re changing the culture around frat philanthropy [at UM]. A lot of fraternities just do it to ‘check a box.’ We’re making it something more meaningful than that,” said Jordan Katz, a sophomore majoring in biology and serving as AEPI’s Co-Chair of Philanthropy.
“The outpouring of support from the campus community has been incredible,” said Jimmy Koch, a junior majoring in biology and serving as Philo Co-Chair. “We keep seeing the same people walk by, come up and chat with Chris, cheer him on. It’s really special to witness.”
“Every person who got swabbed … enters the registry and down the line and might have the chance to donate bone marrow or stem cells and save someone’s life,” said Katz. “This is one of the coolest things I’ve ever been a part of.”
“Gift of Life is actually an amazing charity,” said Charlie Cohen, a junior majoring in Sports Administration and serving as AEPi’s Chapter President.
“We looked through probably 500 different charities. Me, Jimmy, and Jordan decided that Gift of Life is most aligned with what we want to accomplish because you can see their impact … It feels real. They’re saving people’s lives,” said Cohen.
UM’s AEPi chapter drew inspiration for Rockathon from their brothers at the University of Missouri (“Mizzou”), who have held the event annually for over 50 years. Katz and Koch brought the plan to fruition.
“We scheduled a call with the Mizzou guys and talked to them for maybe three and a half hours that first day. We learned everything about the cause, how they fundraise, and how it became so successful,” Katz said.
When asked how Rockathon Miami would continue past Genovese’s involvement, Katz said, “being ‘the Rocker’ is the highest honor you could have at [AEPi] Mizzou – higher than president, higher than social chair, higher than any E-Board position. Hopefully, now that we have the first Rockathon under our belts, there’ll be like five or six guys volunteer to be the Rocker next year.”
“It’s been extremely worthwhile and I’m glad I did it,” said Genovese. “I would do it again, but I would like to pass it onto a younger guy. A younger fella.”