By Carter Ford

Tomorrow night will be a first on the UA campus. The Razorback Athletic Department has graciously allowed Up ‘til Dawn, the 2009-2010 philanthropy for the Volunteer Action Center at the UA, to use its Bud Walton Arena facility for a movie night.

The event is free with donations strongly encouraged at the doors, which will be opening at 8:15 p.m. All proceeds from the event will go straight to the kids of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

You shouldn’t only attend because “The Hangover” is going to be shown or because your attendance and donation are going straight to fighting childhood cancer and directly impacting the lives of children and their families all over the world. You should also go because a donation of $5 will put your name in a drawing for a 1-night stay and 2 dinners at the Fitzgerald Hotel & Casino in Tunica, Miss.

In case you don’t know about St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, it is the first institution established for the sole purpose of conducting basic and clinical research and treatment into catastrophic childhood diseases, mainly focusing on cancer. It was the dream of Danny Thomas, founder of St. Jude that “No child should die in the dawn of life.”

Now, an average 5,400 patients from around the world visit St. Jude each year for treatment. St. Jude is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance. In other words, no child is ever denied treatment because of a family’s inability to pay.

Largely because of the proactive research and developed protocols of St. Jude, the cancer survival rate has progressed from 20 percent in 1962 to 80 percent survival today. The daily operating cost for St. Jude is nearly $1.4 million, which is primarily covered by public contributions. One great thing about giving to St. Jude is that 84 cents of every dollar goes directly to the research being conducted in the hospital.

Earlier this month, Up ‘til Dawn’s “Lick-a-thon” was a big success. About 600 students attended and more than 14,000 letters were sent out to families and friends of students across Arkansas and the country. Since then, even more letters have been sent out. There is a chance that the UA student body could raise more than $100,000 for the kids of St. Jude (cross your fingers).

Thursday night’s movie night is being co-sponsored by the Volunteer Action Center, Associated Student Government, Student Alumni Board, University Programs and the Razorback Athletic Department. What is hoped to be a successful event will likely be so because of the major collaboration that this effort has attempted and achieved. If Up ‘til Dawn has taught us anything this year, it is that organizations on campus that work to collaborate with other organizations have the ability to be much more successful.

It would be nice to see more collaboration on campus in a lot of areas. It seems that different organizations across campus are constantly putting on similar events. The thought of sharing the credit with another organization seems to immediately turn off members of most organizations. But why? At a university the size of ours, it is impossible to ever reach every single student. The best way to reach more people is to get more people involved. It doesn’t pose a threat to the credibility of your organization to collaborate with another group and have a bigger event. It only works to the advantage of both groups.

To collaborate, groups have to step back from the vision and goals of only their organization, and realize the purpose of the UA as a whole. Even though it does not often seem like it, we are ALL Razorbacks of the same university! Instead of working against each other, let’s work together to enhance everyone’s experience as a Razorback.

In the meantime, I hope to see you tomorrow night at 8:15 p.m. at Bud Walton Arena, where the UA will come together to make a difference in the lives of children, allowing those children to have the same opportunities that we have been blessed with as college students.

I know that this event will be a major success, and that we will raise loads of cash for those kids because the students at the UA are the best in the country, in my humble opinion.