Texas Southern celebrates Pink Day in honor of breast cancer awareness month and acknowledgement of those who have lost the battle and survivors
On September 29, 2010 Texas Southern was overflowing with students looking to gain knowledge about Pink Day . With pink as the international color for breast cancer awareness hundreds of students wore pink shirts with logos, gave away strawberry cupcakes, and even make pink foot prints down the tiger walk.
There were booths filled with pamphlets , worksheets, guides, and instructional on how to check yourself for anything that may be going on with your body that can be a sign of breast cancer. Even a pink mobile was parked on the yard to offer some advice.
“This bus educates us on the steps we need to take when or if you find out you have breast cancer” said Taje Wright the Vice President of University Program Council.
Komen Houston Race for the Cure affiliates were also in attendance. The Race is a powerful pink event that serves as a vehicle for spreading the message early detection to participants and had a sign- up sheet filled with participants.
The most significant risk factor for breast cancer is being female, getting older, and having family history of the disease. Breast Cancer is more common in Caucasian women and is normally found too late in African American and Hispanic women.
Two TSU students and Mary Carroll who survived breast cancer spoke at the event to share with people their personal stories and the importance of taking care of your body and knowing when it’s time to get help.
“Don’t wait, we wait too long and by the time you reach your doctor it’s too late,” said Carroll. “We take care of everyone else instead of ourselves. We as women need to start saying wait I need to take care of myself.”
A ceremony took place at the pool in the Recreation Center at TSU where the pool was “painted pink”. During this celebration pink and white balloons with messages written on them were spread throughout the pool to represent those individuals affected by breast cancer.
Even professors at the university encouraged there classes to attend the event and the importance of gaining information on breast cancer.
“This is a wonderful story because all of us have been affected by breast cancer in one way or another” said Serbino Sandifer-Walker a successful journalist and Professor at the University.
The Student Government association and Health Services felt Breast Cancer Awareness was important to acknowledge and when the opportunity for others to help came along many people came out to support.
“I think this was a very successful event and I was happy to see Greeks and other students involved. I was able to invite students to the mobile and register people to vote with Hip Hop politics.” said Reggie Williams the UPC president.
The event lasted well into the afternoon and eager students and organizations spent valuable time continuing to spread the word.
