PEMBROKE — No night in the history of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke has seen more money raised — in any department — than one night last week.

Cash Bash, the annual fundraiser benefiting UNCP athletics, was held Thursday at the English E. Jones Center, raising $159,241 to help provide scholarships for student athletes.

The funds primarily go into the department’s general scholarship fund, although a handful of auction items were earmarked specifically for one team, Athletic Director Dick Christy said.

“All in all, every dollar is going to improve our student experience, whether it’s scholarships or augmenting their unrestricted funding, so pretty awesome,” Christy said.

The successful event came as the department overcame organizational challenges, with the position of Braves Club director — who would normally oversee Cash Bash — currently being vacant.

“We were fortunate — we’ve been short-staffed this year, particularly in our Braves Club (director) position, and I was just so appreciative to all the advancement staff and our external operations team, and they all kind of just picked up the lion’s share of the load with getting auction items and securing tables and working on marketing and solicitation,” Christy said. “It was sluggish in the beginning, but we pretty much had caught up and went ahead on table and sponsorship dollars.”

Ultimately, while attendance was slightly less than previous years, the amount of money raised still increased.

“That was really a powerful statement from our community and I was really proud of that,” Christy said.

The night included plentiful food and drinks and live and silent auctions, as well as a short program.

The department did not have to spend any money on auction items, as all items were donated, allowing those proceeds to go directly to the cause, according to Jack “Bull” Slavin, UNCP’s associate athletic director for athletic marketing and external revenue.

“A big highlight for me was a lot of the new faces,” Slavin said. “A combination of our regulars that have shown over and over again that they bleed black and gold and they’re there to make a difference, but invigorating that new blood line of people to be a part of it, people that were bidding on silent auction items or just participating in the fund-a-cause because they wanted to make a difference, even if they didn’t feel like they could afford the live auction or the higher end of the experiences in the silent auction. That’s a really big selling point and that’s really special.”

An emotional high point, Christy said, with a testimonial video of athletes sharing how the scholarship dollars they’ve received has impacted their lives.

“(UNCP Sports Network director Alex Inbornone) did a nice job in grabbing some athletes that are still in town and asking them what their scholarship meant, and what would be different in their experience if they didn’t have that support,” Christy said. “I think that really resonated with a lot of donors; I saw some teary eyes. I think that just struck the right tone.”

The department was also able to continue a year-long commemoration of the 50th anniversaries of both Title IX and the birth of NCAA Division II.

“(We were) highlighting the past 50 years of women’s athletics and UNC Pembroke being a part of Division II athletics, and setting the groundwork for the next 50 years,” Slavin said. “The goal was $150,000 raised for the night, and being able to set a new record and supercede that goal, that’s something that’s really special.

After listening to feedback from attendees over the years, the department has made an effort to make the program shorter and allow for more social time, and also more time to engage with the silent auction items, Christy said. This is part of a goal to make the event bigger and better every year.