Fetzer Field was dark at 9 p.m. Friday night except for the light of more than 800 flickering candles. Lit in memory of cancer victims, they lined the track and spelled out the word "hope" on the bleachers.
The luminary ceremony was part of Relay for Life, a nationwide fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society that brought in $98,000 at UNC. The event consisted of team members taking turns walking laps around a track for 24 hours.
The local relay, organized by the health focus committee of the Campus Y, was held on Fetzer Field and lasted from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Saturday. This was the first time UNC hosted the local relay, and more than 1,200 people on 87 teams participated.
Freshman Brian Paler said that he wanted to participate because it was for a good cause and that he thought it would be fun. "I think this school has a good policy of taking things that are fun and things that are good for society and putting them together," he said.
Other participants, like freshman Janet Soper, said they wanted to honor cancer victims. "I had a friend who died from cancer before graduation last year," she said. "I joined the committee that helped to plan this event."
Some relay events, such as the Miss Relay pageant, focused on raising funds. The pageant's male contestants dressed in drag and had an opportunity to say something about themselves before spending the next half hour wandering around the crowd trying to collect money.
The 20 contestants raised almost $1,000 collectively, but prom-dress-clad professional student Byron Buckley won the event by collecting $155. He said he participated in the pageant to support his teammate, senior Katherine Wilson.
"She has lung cancer, so I was doing it for her," Buckley said. "She was really the motivator for the whole thing."
In addition to fund-raising events, all Relay for Life participants had the personal goal of raising $100 before the event, using any method of their choice.
