Music pulsed through the room as hundreds of Wake Forest students danced, sang and cheered for 12 straight hours. The marathon of energy was a fight for a mission bigger than themselves.
On Saturday, March 28, the Sutton Gymnasium filled with students for the 21st annual Wake ‘N Shake event. A 12-hour dance marathon, the student-run philanthropic event raises money for the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund and the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist.
The event creates a space for community, storytelling and support for those affected by cancer. Three student directors led this year’s event: sophomore Layne Cofiell and seniors Matthew Postman and Mike Owens.
“When we were younger, my dad was diagnosed with stage four leukemia,” Cofiell said. “It was a terrifying time, but he is now in remission. That experience shaped how deeply I care about cancer research and supporting families going through similar situations.
“Once I got to campus, I saw firsthand how powerful the event was,” Cofiell continued. “Watching the entire community come together for one day around a shared purpose is something really special.”
The Sutton Center was filled with decorations on the theme “All Eyes on the Cure,” and featured carnival-style activities and high-energy performances that kept participants engaged throughout the day.
“It’s such an amazing thing to be a part of something so big with such a large impact on our community,” Executive Member of Decorations Committee Ellie Clark said. “Seeing everyone come together after all of our work has been an incredible feeling.”
From noon until midnight, students participated in dance routines, tug of war, pieing and a thrift shop. They listened to a speech by football head coach Jake Dickert and his team and performances by student-bands including Winston Station and Chicken Scratch.
Students founded Wake N’ Shake in 2005 in honor of Brian Piccolo, a Wake Forest alum and football player for the Chicago Bears who lost his life to embryonal cell carcinoma on June 16, 1970. The campus gathered to remember his legacy and all individuals and families affected by cancer.
“Wake ‘N Shake shows what a community is capable of when everyone is united behind a single goal,” Cofiell said. “It’s incredible to see a group of students raise over $350,000 in just a few months, and over $100,000 in a single day.”
“Beyond the numbers, though, it creates a sense of connection that can be hard to find in everyday campus life,” Cofiell continued. “It gives students and faculty the chance to be part of something bigger than themselves and to come together in support of a meaningful cause.”
One of the 2026 student directors, senior Matthew Postman, has a personal connection to cancer which inspired his involvement and leadership in the philanthropy event. His mother, Colleen Postman, is a breast cancer survivor. She shared her story as a “champion” with participants at the event, focusing her talk around her favorite quote: “We don’t look to the past, we look to the future.”
“Having my mom there was everything,” Postman said. “It was such a full circle moment for me, as freshman year I was a dancer, sophomore year I was a committee member and junior year I was on exec. Getting to serve as director this year and hearing her story, she did an incredible job and I know she worked really hard to speak from her heart.”
Students had the opportunity to listen to six champions, all of whom have been affected in some way by cancer. This included Junius Nottingham, the father of Jeremy Nottingham, a Wake Forest alum who passed away from stage four colon and liver cancer; Molly Matthews, a stage four Hodgkin’s lymphoma survivor; Carlton Forrester, whose mother passed away from leukemia; Anna Cianci, a Wake Forest accounting professor and breast cancer survivor; and Bennett Cavallo, whose brother passed in 2015 from Ewing’s sarcoma.
Cofiell said some of the most meaningful parts of the day were the champion stories as well as the groups of students that supported and represented each champion.
“I cannot even begin to describe how special it was to see these champions’ willingness to share their vulnerable story on stage, uniting the community to support a common goal,” Cofiell said. “This tie to real-life stories would not be possible without the willingness of people affected by cancer to share their stories and without the presence of the Wake Forest student body supporting them.”
Many students worked behind the scenes on the Executive Board or committees, contributing to the excitement around the event. Executive teams included Dancer Relations, Morale, Hospitality, Decorations, Corporate Sponsors, Champion Relations, Local Outreach and Fundraising, Marketing and Entertainment.
To prepare, committee and executive board members organized dances, booked speakers, invited champions and set up the events and entertainment to keep students engaged throughout the day.
“We started back in April of last year with ideas of how to make the event better,” Postman said. “We were on phone calls all summer and in the fall we were setting up fundraisers while also trying to plan the perfect event for the spring, so it takes a lot of planning.”
Their hard work paid off not only in the event’s energy and excitement, but also in the final amount raised to support cancer research.
As the clock turned to midnight and “rave hour” concluded, the crowd erupted into applause as the final amount of money raised for the event was revealed—totaling at $353,147. This surpassed their goal of over $300,000, helping fund research and keep “All Eyes on the Cure.”
