In just a few short days, the Communication Studies Department at University of North Carolina Wilmington will be hosting their 7th annual ‘Rock for a Cure’ fundraiser. The event is held to help raise funds and awareness for the New Hanover Regional Medical Center Foundations ‘Pink Ribbon Project.’ On October 18th, at 7 p.m. students, staff, and community members will head to Reel Cafe in downtown Wilmington to listen to live music, enjoy drinks, and socialize while raising money to help local women fighting breast cancer. To attend this event, all you have to do is purchase a ticket for five dollars, and “since the events inception, Rock for a Cure has raised more than $22,000 to assist local women with mammography screenings and care bags for women who are undergoing cancer treatments.” This is always a much anticipated event on campus because of the large amounts of community news coverage, sponsorships, raffles and the fact that UNCW’s very own, “The Schoolboys” will be performing.
The Pink Ribbon Project “has helped thousands of local women – without insurance or other financial resources – by providing mammography screenings, diagnostics, comfort items and spiritual support.” They provide information via their Facebook page that informs the public of any local places or events going on that donate proceeds to their project. The Pink Ribbon Project, since its founding in 1998, has raised over $1.4 million for women undergoing cancer treatment in the New Hanover region. The organization has also provided over 5,200 comfort bags, which include necessities during treatment as well as inspirational insights.
October was first designated as the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month over 25 years ago and since then has been used as a source of revenue for many foundations. Although foundations such as Susan G. Komen and the American Cancer Society raise money year round, October is targeted to generate specific media coverage for awareness, prevention, and research for breast cancer. Countless organizations including the NFL also bring awareness to this cause and by doing this, they, along with the other organizations are harnessing the Agenda Setting Theory. If a news item is covered frequently in the media, audiences will regard the issue as more important. The Agenda Setting theory is used when telling audiences what to think about, not how to think. Rock for a Cure is able to gain so much support from students because it is a prominent topic on UNCW’s campus. Students, staff, and community members are all made aware of this event through various outlets such as Facebook, the school website, posters, online news articles, and information sessions.
Can you think of a time when the media has influenced what you have thought about? Where have you seen the Agenda Setting Theory being used recently? Has this been a successful method used for Rock for a Cure?
See you all Friday at Rock for a Cure!
-Aaron Love, Kara Zimmerman, Rachel Clay, Rebecca Hobbs
IMC Hawks Blog 
Thanks for promoting RFC. It has really grown and moved into an official event status in Wilmington which is amazing. I’m so proud of ALL the students over the years who have invested countless hours to organize, solicit donations, transform the spaces and put on the event. And of course props go out to Jennifer Chin who has offered tremendous commitment to RFC and to CSS in general. The communication lesson (if there needs to be one) is that in the face of a huge challenge we can still do what we can do. We can’t cure cancer but we can support those facing it. We can’t cure cancer but we can support a student organization lead by a passionate advisor who are doing something in Wilmington to help make a tangible difference. Show up, party with a purpose and be grateful.
Thank you Dr. Olsen for your post. We agree that students and Dr. Chin have worked so hard over the past few years to make this event a success! Can’t wait to see you as well as everyone else Friday night!