UF students swarmed Turlington on Monday to witness President Bernie Machen’s shocked expression as he participated in latest social media phenomenon: the Ice Bucket Challenge.
Machen was nominated by UF journalism graduate student Kéran Billaud and decided to complete the challenge on the first day of the semester.
Gator football quarterback Jeff Driskel and Gator volleyball middle blocker Simone Antwi dumped the bucket of ice water on Machen in front a crowd of students.
Machen nominated Student Body President Cory Yeffet and Dave Kratzer, vice president for Student Affairs, to accept the same challenge.
“ALS is a horrible disease, so anything I can do to help raise money for ALS would be a good thing,” he said.
Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell also participated in the challenge Friday afternoon in public at the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office building in front of a crowd of about 80 spectators.
“I was honored to be nominated and to be a part of this magnificent and powerful fundraising effort for ALS,” she said.
Other local figures who accepted the challenge include Gator football coach Will Muschamp and several staff members of the North Florida Regional Medical Center.
On Monday, the ALS Association reported $79.7 million from donations inspired by the Ice Bucket Challenge.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 8/26/2014 under the headline "Machen joins the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge trend"]
Gator volleyball blocker Simone Antwi and Gator quarterback Jeff Driskel dump ice water on UF President Bernie Machen on Turlington Plaza on Monday. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge raises awareness of the disease and collects donations.
