Courtesy AMY FLOWERS UMBLE / THE FREE LANCE-STAR

The skies opened up and unloaded a torrent of rain just moments before the University of Mary Washington’s athletic department leaders picked up plastic buckets filled with ice water and drenched the school’s president.

Wednesday night, UMW President Rick Hurley and four others took the ice bucket challenge, a social media trend that has saturated Facebook feeds with videos of shivering, soaked celebrities, athletes and politicians.

The craze has people willingly drenched with ice water to raise awareness and money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative disease without a cure.

The trend’s beginnings are hard to pinpoint—but began with simple challenges issued on social media, where participants were asked to dunk themselves with frigid water or to donate to charity.

This summer, baseball player Pete Frates, who has ALS, took up the challenge, donating money and asking others to follow suit. Fellow athletes joined the effort and word spread quickly.

And the money began to flow. In the past two months, the ALS Association has raised $31.5 million, according to a press release issued Wednesday. The group raised $1.9 million during the same time period last year.

The trend soon went viral, with families, church groups, high school bands and individuals taking the plunge—and providing video proof on Facebook.

Everyone from toddlers to grandparents took part. And when people posted the video, they called on others to take the challenge.

UMW rising senior Alyssa Smallridge was challenged by a friend and decided to grow her effort by including university leaders. She called out her equestrian coach, the director of athletic development and promotions, and former Redskin Darrell Green, who now works for UMW.

Green opted to donate $500 and take the honor of pouring the bone-chilling water instead of getting soaked himself.

An incoming freshman heard about the challenge and invited Hurley to take part. Laney Sullivan challenged Hurley in honor of her grandmother, Connie Lane, who died from ALS in 1997.

The group gathered at UMW on Wednesday night to get soaked. As lightning lit the sky, the challenge takers took their show from outdoors to the school’s pool house.

Just before the frigid water hit his head, Hurley called on other college presidents—including Germanna Community College President David Sam—to join in the frosty fun.

Those academic leaders join former President George W. Bush who took the ice bucket challenge early this week. Other politicians and celebrities have also posted sodden videos.

That is part of the challenge’s appeal, said Marcus Messner, who teaches social media journalism at Virginia Commonwealth University.

But the biggest appeal comes from seeing regular people take the plunge.

“It makes this international campaign very personal and that creates a strong connection for people who are seeing it,” he said.

The challenge has taken a complex disease that most people don’t know about and makes it more personal.

“Every organization dreams of of having such a campaign that runs itself,” Messner said.

While it’s unlikely that other charities will be able to re-create the challenge’s money flow, they could take lessons from the chilly trend, Messner said.

People are looking for authenticity and connection, he said. And the ice bucket challenge provided both. It also provided a pretty easy way to get involved.

The challenge has spread quickly but might soon be doused, Messner predicted.

“We’re probably running out of people who haven’t done it,” he said. “I guess that we’re near the peak, now that we have former presidents throwing buckets of water on themselves. It will probably go on for a few weeks and then it’s up to the organization to use the money in a good way to fight the disease.”