Last updated on May 31, 2025
By Nick Singer, Staff Writer
2025 saw the return of the viral Ice Bucket Challenge. Initially launched in 2014, the challenge spread awareness of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Over 10 years later in 2025, the challenge is now spreading awareness for mental health.
Titled the “USC Speak Your Mind” challenge, students from the University of South Carolina revived the challenge and made it viral once again. The challenge was brought up by the school’s MIND club, which set an initial goal to raise $500 for their campaign. The money raised would be donated to the foundation Active Minds, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting mental health.
Through social media, the campaign once again tapped into the power of viral trends to spread awareness and ended up raising over $289,000.
The original Ice Bucket Challenge began in 2014 as a viral social media campaign aimed at raising awareness and funds for ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Though the challenge initially started as a general internet trend, it was former Boston College baseball player Pete Frates who helped tie the stunt to the cause.
Frates was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 27 and decided to use the Ice Bucket trend for good. He encouraged participants to dump a bucket of ice on themselves, donate to ALS research, and nominate others to do the same. The campaign quickly went viral, with celebrities, athletes and public figures joining in.
Within a short amount of time, celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Conan O’Brien and Dave Grohl all participated in the challenge, just to name a few. It ultimately ended up raising over $115 million for the ALS Association and is now considered one of the most successful awareness campaigns in internet history.
People get nominated for the challenge by their peers tagging them in a social media post after completing the challenge. Then, the nominee would repost the initial post they were nominated in, complete the challenge by having ice water dumped on them, and nominate others to do the same. This time around, the challenge was especially popular amongst Generation Z, with the majority of them being in high school and college.
Freshman computer science major Paolo Volpe was among those who took part in the challenge.
“The way I learned about the USC Ice Bucket Challenge was through Instagram,” Volpe explained. “As I saw my friends participate, I began to wonder why it was a big thing again. So I looked it up, and it made me want to participate because it helps people spread mental health awareness, which makes a huge impact on our college life and life in general.”
While some students were initially hesitant to drench themselves in water, Volpe saw an opportunity to embrace the challenge.
“I don’t think I was reluctant at all,” he said. “I was just a little embarrassed to screw up the intro of the video part, which seems funny to me now because I have no regret at all for participating.”
Volpe also spoke about the deeper significance of the challenge.
“Sometimes we all need a little more than just words and thoughts to spread meaning in people’s lives,” he said. “Doing this great activity shows that you can raise awareness while still having fun.”
Junior marketing major Anthony Cascio joined the challenge after being nominated by a family member.
“I was nominated by my brother,” Cascio said. “Although I wasn’t sure at first what cause it supported, I did my research and knew I wanted to show my support for people who suffer from mental illness.”
Cascio admitted he wasn’t initially too thrilled about the cold water aspect.
“I don’t like cold water, but I thought it was a fun challenge to do, especially with the weather getting warmer.”
After taking the plunge, he described his feelings about it in one word, “Cold.” But despite the shock, he was glad he did it in the end.
Cascio noted a significant issue that some may experience in the challenge.
“I feel that many people were not aware of what the challenge stood for, honestly. I think there are a lot of people out there who just think that the challenge is for fun, and are missing the whole point of it.” He added, “I made sure to explain to those who I nominated that it was for mental illness awareness, but that can only go so far.”
The strong mixture of social media exposure and personal impact helped the challenge resurface once again this year.
Volpe recalled his experience with the challenge.
“When the water fell on top of me it was pretty cold, but it felt nice spreading awareness for a great cause. It’s almost like sacrificing your comfort zone to show people it’s okay to feel uncomfortable, as long as you know someone else is out there to help you or go through that same cold you feel” he explained.
USC students flooded Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat with clips tagged #SpeakYourMindUSC, helping to transform a campus tradition into a cultural moment. Many posts were filled with captions encouraging others to check in on their friends, reach out for help when needed, and to reject stigma around mental health struggles.
For participants like Volpe and Cascio, it’s clear that while the water might be cold, the message is warm and necessary.
“It reminded me that we’re not alone,” Volpe said. “We’re stronger when we speak up together.”
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