Colleges vs. Cancer

Pink ribbons. Yellow wristbands. Shirts exclaiming, “I love boobs!” Car washes, fundraising walks, t-shirt sales and special events— college campuses everywhere are now advertising cancer. And students have joined together to address the second leading cause of death in the U.S.

“Cancer awareness has reached new levels and I think that media has helped propagate that,” says Kristin Hennessey, the campaign manager of the central New York chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).

Desperate Housewives, The Family Stone, and Lance Armstrong have introduced cancer into the mainstream media. People aren’t afraid to talk about it.

“Twenty-five years ago you didn’t talk about cancer. It wasn’t acceptable,” says Daniel Wald, co-chair of Ithaca College’s chapter of Colleges Against Cancer (CAC). “Now it is.”

Wald, a junior biochemistry major, has led Ithaca’s CAC to become the college’s biggest active member club with 60-75 members attending each week. The club brings speakers on campus, initiates advertising campaigns, and participates in fundraising walks.

“There are a couple of reasons why students are more active in these events,” Hennessey says. “Most people, by the time they’ve reached their college years, have known somebody who has been personally impacted by a cancer.”

A bright, energetic character, Wald has found his passion in cancer awareness and fundraising because he lost his mother to a blood cancer, myeloma, six years ago.

“My mom was always thoughtful, she always went out of her way for others,” Wald says. “And that’s how I live my life. It pushes me.”

One way in which he pushes himself is in raising money for the Relay for Life. The Relay for Life is an overnight event to demonstrate the idea that cancer never sleeps. Hosted by the American Cancer Society, the relay is designed to celebrate survivorship and raise money for cancer research. Over three million Americans participate in the Relay for Life, most of whom are college students.

Last year, Wald set a goal to raise $3,351, the number of the days that passed between his mother's misdiagnosis and her death. He sent more than 200 letters and e-mails to his family and friends, and received more than $6,000 for the walk.

“Ever since I’ve started Relay for Life, I’ve been the top fundraiser,” Wald says. “I always joke if someone beats me, I’ll take them out on a date…but no one has.”

In the past three years, Wald has raised over $10,000.

The Relay for Life at Cornell last year came in second per capita in the country for fund raising. With 2,500 participants, the event earned $213,000.

Similarly to Relay for Life, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society hosts Light the Night walks. Their mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. It is the largest voluntary health organization dedicated to finding cures for blood cancers. Hennessey is the campaign manager for four walks, the biggest of which is in Syracuse. She said the Syracuse University team has had more than 150 members for the past few years.

“People are very generous and want to give back, specifically the college-age group of kids. They want to do something, they see that there’s a need and they know that they can provide assistance,” Hennessey says.

Kimberly Pinglora, one of those generous kids, a sophomore theater arts management major at Ithaca College, organized a car wash on Sept. 16 for breast cancer research. The car wash, which was run by college students, earned more than $250.

“Breast cancer is something we should all be educated about. My aunt had breast cancer for ten years and she had to get her breast removed. I feel like if she detected it earlier, she could have saved her boob,” Pinglora says.

Pinglora planned the event, which was sponsored by Ithaca College Residential Life, for a floor program.

“I think everyone has become more aware that they can get cancer, especially now with the cervical cancer shot,” she says. And that could be a reason for increased involvement.

“People die from these things everyday,” Pinglora says. “And that’s not acceptable.”

Daniel Wald agrees. Wald became involved in Colleges Against Cancer in its first year at Ithaca in 2005. When he was a sophomore, he was granted the position of co-chair with no background check, he says. “They just picked some crazy fanatic, which I am.”

At the time, CAC had only eight members. Now, the executive board has 20 members, and 50 or more members attend the meetings weekly.

“When you have something like cancer in an organization, everyone has a passion there, so that’s why people are going to keep coming back,” Wald says. “It’s not like ‘our work here is done.’”

Not only are college clubs involved in the efforts to fight cancer, athletic teams have joined the battle as well.

Nine Middlebury College swim team members joined about 50 other New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) swimmers in the Swim Across America, a one-mile ocean swim at Nantasket Beach in Massachusetts this summer. The group raised more than $54,000 in total.

“With the Relay for Life and Swim Across America, I have been exceptionally proud of how involved our team has been in such worthy causes over the years,” Middlebury coach Peter Solomon says. “These kids are not only dedicated students and athletes, but are also very giving of themselves and of their time when it comes to helping out others in the community.”

Other examples of giving back for cancer abound in collegiate athletics. The New Mexico Aggies wore pink on their game on Sept. 29 to honor breast cancer. The Syracuse Women’s Rugby Team held a raffle during their game for the cause.

With energetic students like Wald and Pinglora who have a passion for fighting cancer, this is a student movement that will not fade.

“Not only do students add numbers to our mission and help bring awareness, they also bring a lot of excitement, enthusiasm and passion for the mission,” Hennessey says. “Instilling that at an early age is going to stay with them for a lifetime. It’s critical that they’re involved now because they’re the ones that will be helping us in years to come.”