Purple decorated the Marriott Library Plaza on Wednesday as U students worked to spread awareness about cancer research at the “Paint the Campus Purple” event, sponsored by ASUU.
Some pinned purple ribbons on their shirt while others displayed their purple ‘Rock The U’ T-shirts. All who wore purple enjoyed free food and prizes courtesy of the ASUU ‘Rock The U’ board.
The Utah Ballroom Dance team and the Utah Urban Dance Organization group performed, and the Nu-Skin Jazz dancers made an appearance — all this to fundraise for the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
The HCI serves thousands of cancer patients throughout the intermountain West and provides clinical and academic training for future physicians and researchers.
The largest student-run philanthropy event in Utah, ‘Rock The U’ is a year-long fundraising event for the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. The board’s mission is to empower and unite U students, alumni and the community to defeat cancer by providing financial support for research. This year, the board is aiming to raise $100,000 through various events.
Sarah Vaughn, a senior in broadcast journalism, is serving her second year as director of the board. Two weeks ago, she lost a loved one to leukemia.
“It’s such a horrible disease, and I want to be a part of finding the cure,” Vaughn said.
According to the American Cancer Society, in 2012, it was expected that 47,150 Americans would be diagnosed with leukemia. Of those diagnosed, 23,540 were expected to pass away from their ailment. Although commonly thought of as a children’s disease, leukemia is diagnosed more often in adults than children.
Sporting a purple dress, ASUU vice president Sara Seastrand, a senior in political science, encouraged students to attend the annual ‘Rock The U’ event as she handed out ribbons.
Seastrand witnessed her cousin battle leukemia not long ago. At only two years old, the child fought through chemotherapy, unaware of the toll it took on her body.
“It was so hard on her,” Seastrand said. “[She was] not even old enough to know what was going on.”
That experience helps motivate Seastrand to spread the word on how important cancer research is.
“This is something that’s important for [the U]. We know that it affects our students and it affects the community, [so] we’re committed to helping to find solutions to raise money for the Huntsman Cancer Institute and the research they conduct to prevent cancer from affecting more families,” Seastrand said.
Today, her cousin is cancer-free and “doing great,” Seastrand said. She and her family are grateful for the outcome but emphasized the end result isn’t always positive for others.