University of South Alabama President Tony Waldrop added his name to the growing list of Mobile-area figures taking part in the viral fundraising campaign for ALS research, standing outside the campus Jaguar monument as a bucket of ice water was dumped over his head.
The moment capped weeks of the ice bucket challenge sweeping across social media nationwide, a campaign meant to raise awareness and donations for research into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive disease that attacks nerve cells controlling muscle movement. Waldrop, relatively new to the university’s top post, had been challenged by USA’s Student Government Association president, Danielle Watson, who showed up in person to empty the bucket herself.
Waldrop’s wife, Julee, joined in on the fun as well, taking part alongside her husband as students and staff gathered to watch. Rather than let the moment end there, Waldrop turned around and issued challenges of his own, calling out members of the university’s leadership team, several academic deans and the president of the faculty senate to take their turn within the customary 24-hour window or make a donation instead.
At least one dean wasted no time answering the call. The dean of the college of engineering announced he would complete his own ice-water dousing within days of being challenged. Meanwhile, Waldrop’s wife extended a separate invitation to Mobile County’s public health officer, pulling local government into the campus-driven wave of participation.
The stunt was far from just spectacle. University organizers noted that participants across the campus community were pairing their ice bucket moments with actual donations to ALS research, turning a viral social media trend into tangible support for a disease that has no cure and affects patients’ ability to speak, move and eventually breathe.
The ice bucket challenge had already raised substantial sums nationally by the time it reached the University of South Alabama’s campus, with local chapters of the fundraising wave popping up at schools, businesses and government offices throughout the Mobile area. Waldrop’s participation, captured on video and shared widely among the campus community, added another visible face to a cause that resonated well beyond the university’s gates.
For a campus community still getting acquainted with its relatively new president, the lighthearted moment offered a glimpse of Waldrop willing to poke fun at himself for a good cause, while nudging more of the university’s senior leadership to follow suit in the weeks ahead.