Student-led flash mob promotes worthy cause

By Teaira Haynes | gargoyle@flagler.edu

Wednesday, March 7 for many Flagler College students was a dismal day. It was cloudy with the threat of rain. The kind of day some would prefer to spend in bed rather than on campus. However, those who just so happened to be in the West Lawn at 11:50 a.m. had a musically inclined surprise in store for them.

“Sometimes I think what if our school was like High School Musical,” said sophomore Giovanna Saunders, who just so happened to be in the right place at the right time when Flagler College students began a synchronized dance in front of Kenan Hall.

The student led flash mob was an effort to promote the 2012 Flagler College Dance-a-thon, a six hour fundraiser where participants were challenged to dance non-stop in order to raise money for the Second Annual Lionheart Relay.

“It was a joint idea between Mike [Lambert] and I to have the flash mob because we wanted to find a creative way to publicize the event,” said senior Alex Bonus, one of the 16 cross-country members who will participate in the Lionheart Relay, a 280-mile long-distance-running event meant to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The three day marathon will be held March 16 and this year, runners hope they will exceed last year’s contribution of $3,500.

Although Bonus and Lambert were confident a flash mob would be a fun way to stir interest in the Dance-a-thon and the Lionheart Relay, they weren’t as confident on how to get things started.

“It started out as an idea we thought we would never do,” Bonus said. “But after getting in touch with Nicole Gamerl from the dance team, we realized it wouldn’t be that hard to pull off.”

Gamerl agrees.

“It was pretty easy for everyone to pick up the routine,” Gamerl, captain of the dance team, said. “We did have practices and I had a lot of fun teaching the dance because everyone had a good attitude about learning.”

Invitations to join the flash mob were sent out to a certain number of students over Facebook.

“We encouraged everyone invited to invite friends who they thought would like to do it,” said Bonus, who risked the point of a flash mob, secrecy and spontaneity. “I figured a lot of people read it, so a handful of people knew we were doing it even though we tried hard to keep it a secret.”

Still, the flash mob was a success.

Saunders said “it was very random and surprising” when she saw a large group of students dancing as one to “Turn Up the Music” by Chris Brown.

“We had a good turn out and I think the crowd loved it,” Gamerl said.

Gamerl and other participants of the flash mob, like junior Aryelle Cook, are looking forward to another spontaneous group assembly.

“I thought it was an amazing idea,” Cook said. “I’d never been in a flash mob before and it ended up being so much fun.”