The audience nearly doubled in size at the “Rock the Fight for Life” concert when the emergency alert sirens went off at about 7:40 p.m. Tuesday.

Eastern students Jamie Ball and Hannah Tucker, both senior management majors, were making sure no one got into the concert without a ticket.

But when crowds of people started showing up at the 7th Street Underground in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union, they decided to let them in.

“They just kept coming,” said Tucker. “Heaven forbid we left someone out in a tornado.”

Ava Coleman, a Charleston resident and Eastern graduate, said she drove from home with her family to 7th Street because of the tornado warning.

“The sirens came on and said to get somewhere safe,” Coleman said. “I knew this was a tornado shelter.”

Ball and Tucker helped organize the concert with several other students as an assignment for their project management class.

The concert helped raise money and awareness for the “Just a Mile” foundation started by Mike Nowak, an Eastern alumnus.

Nowak helps raise money for suicide prevention by running marathons as part of “Just a Mile.”

Nowak started the foundation after the death of Jesse Mounce in 2008. Nowak was a friend of Mounce’s and they were both brothers in the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.

Mounce’s death was caused by “self-inflicted” injuries.

“We didn’t see the signs,” Nowak said. “We had no idea Jesse was battling something inside of him.”

Nowak not only told the audience Mounce’s story, but also said he had been battling with depression himself since he was 8 years old and 18 percent of America is affected by suicide.

Mike Tozer, a consoler at Eastern, also spoke about suicide on a college campus. He said statistically, 1,200 Eastern students have thought of or are thinking about suicide and only 20 percent of those 1,200 would ask for help.

“The topic of suicide is obviously a difficult one,” Tozer said, “You have to be able to move past the fear of talking about it. There is no shame in having thoughts about suicide.”

The concert included performances by Muddy Grove and The Stationary, both from Mattoon.

Johnny Cornell and Leslie Francis are brother and sister and technically the only members of Muddy Grove. They said they recruited friends from The Stationary to play during the concert.

Francis said she was glad the concert could increase awareness of suicide.

“I didn’t realize half of the things they were saying statistics wise,” Francis said. “I didn’t realize suicide was so prevalent on a college campus.”

Andrew Shipp, a senior business management major, not only helped organize the concert, but also came up with the idea. He said he was friends with Nowak while he was at Eastern and he wanted to help “Just a Mile.”

Shipp and Nate Farber, a senior management and finance major, are both members of Sig Ep and they said many of its members attended the concert as well.

Farber said they are selling bracelets to support “Just a Mile” and anyone looking for more information should contact him at [email protected] or Shipp at [email protected].

Other students who helped organize the concert are Kyrie Park, a senior management and marketing major and Jennifer Moran, Zachary Lampkin, Kyle Bailey and Amy Luttrell all senior management majors.

Seth Schroeder can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]