A bald head is a characteristic typically associated with cancer patients.
“The first time it hit me, we were about 16 days into treatment … and there was all this hair on his pillow,” said Laurina Conger, a University alumna whose 13-year-old son Michael’s acute lymphoblastic leukemia has been in remission for four years. “It was like, ‘Wow. He really does have cancer.’”
Free Speech Plaza passersby will have the chance to see members of the University community go bald voluntarily during a head shaving event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today that supports Michael and other children with cancer.
Donations for the event, which is organized by the University’s chapter of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, go to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, an organization that funds children’s cancer research at facilities like St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.
The volunteer-driven foundation held its first event in 1999 and it only took three years to raise its first $1 million. Within 11 more years, its total earnings topped $100 million.
Parish Tillman, mass communication senior and philanthropy chair for TKE, will be shaving his head for the third time in support of the charity. He is one of about 16 people registered to do so this year.
“The philosophy behind the philanthropy itself is not only just to raise money for childhood cancer research, but with the act of shaving your head, it’s supposed to show solidarity for children with cancer,” Tillman said.
Teams across the country organize events, usually around the St. Patrick’s Day holiday, and collect donations prior to the event at a team page on the St. Baldrick’s website. Cash and online donations are also accepted during and shortly after the event.
This year marks the second consecutive year TKE has hosted the public head shavings. Last year’s efforts raised around $3,500, but this year’s group had already raised $5,424 in online donations alone by 11 p.m on Thursday.
Contributing a large portion to that total were dairy sciences senior Mary Condo and psychology senior Ritu Roy, who each raised more than $1,000. As the only female students to register for a head shave, Roy said the response to their campaign was inspiring.
“Within 24 hours of me putting up the Facebook event, we’d already met our goal,” Roy said. “I was just overwhelmed with happiness and how wonderful people were.”
Tillman said he increased the fundraising goal several times since creating this year’s event, and he expects the group to reach its most recent goal of $5,500 by the end of the event.
“The generosity has probably been the most amazing thing about hosting the event,” Tillman said.
Tillman credits much of this year’s success to the experience of running the event last year, but he also said the support for the women participating helped the event quickly surpass its goals.
“I really admire the girls getting their heads shaved,” he said. “So much of feminine identity is tied to hair.”
Conger agreed, saying she doubts she would have had the “chutzpah” to shave her head as a young woman.
“It’s amazing that young people would do something so drastic,” Conger said. “… I’m impressed that kids are aware … it’s something that they can do to raise awareness and to get involved.”
When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today
Where: Free Speech Circle
How to donate: Participants will be collecting cash, and laptops will be available for online donations via credit card
