Purple Professors? Splattered Staff?

Students got the opportunity to paint professors of their choice. The best part? It's all for a good cause!
Photo courtesy of Corey Lantz

As many fundraisers started at the beginning of October as the month of breast cancer awareness, other fundraising efforts are happening year-round. As Anthony Woodyard, Relay For Life Manager for the American Society best describes it, “Relay For Life is not just an event that takes place once a year on a track around a football, nor is it some sort of “product”. Rather, Relay For Life is a sense of family that lasts 365 days a year.”

“Paint Your Professor/Splatter Your Staff” was created by the Concord University Public Relations Workshop to help further the work of Relay For Life on campus. It plays on the 2016 theme for the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life, "Paint Your World Purple." This fundraiser requires the votes in the form of money donations from students, faculty and staff to select the top three contestants with the most donations to be painted purple to support the cause. Simply donate any amount of money to the jars with the professors or staff member and wait for them to be painted. Right now, there are seven participants who are professors and staff working at the University: Dr. Sharon Brescoach (Assistant Professor of Public Relations), Dr. James White (Professor of Political Science), Dr. Jack Sheffler (Chair of the Division of Fine Arts/Associate Professor of Art), Dr. Joan Pendergast (Professor of Social Work), Lindsey Akers (Instructor of Communication Arts), Sarah Wambe (Director of International Admisions) and Douglas Moore (Information Systems Specialist). All proceeds will go directly to Relay For Life of Concord University. 

Anthony Woodyard is a Concord alumnus who has found his calling as a Relay For Life Manager for the American Cancer Society. Woodyard works with volunteers in southwest/central Virginia and southern West Virginia to plan and execute Relay For Life events across the two Virginias. “It is my job to empower Relay For Life volunteers in each community by giving them the support and resources they need to be successful,” shares Woodyard. Woodyard thinks the fundraiser is a great idea “to bring the different constituencies on The Campus Beautiful together. Plus, it’s a fun way to give a little “payback” to the educators we love and adore—especially at the end of the semester!”

Mrs. Akers shared that she was asked to be the Faculty Advisor of the Relay For Life of Concord University event by Woodyard and “wanted to raise as much money as possible to help the American Cancer Society fund the cure for cancer.” She also started her own team, Concord University Public Relations Workshop at the beginning of the Fall 2015 and has so far helped raise $151. Leading teams are Concordians for a Cure ($446), Chi Omega Psi ($425) and Team Brooke ($240). Woodyard is optimistic about the future of the work Relay For Life teams are doing at Concord “We have a fundraising goal of $15,000. To date, we have raised about 10% of our goal so we certainly have a lot of work to do. With that being said, I feel confident that we can and will achieve our fundraising goal. In order to do so, however, we need the help of everyone on Concord’s campus to make it a success.”

The Relay For Life table will be set up in Ground Floor, Jean and Jerry L. Beasley Student Center from Thursday, November 12 to Wednesday, November 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Any amount of donations will be appreciated. Purple Your Professor/Splatter Your Staff will be held Wednesday, November 18 at 3:00 PM at the gazebo outside of Alexander Fine Arts Center and  The main Relay For Life of Concord University event will be taken place on April 15, 2016 from 5  to 11 PM in the Carter Center Gymnasium. Woodyard would also like to pay special tribute to the volunteer Executive Board, an “impressive team of individuals”: The Concordian Editor-in-Chief and this year’s Executive Director, Brittany Strother; Associate Director, Lindsey Cartwright; Jordan Adkins, Communications Director; and Abigail Porter, Finance Director. 

The Relay For Life of Concord University volunteer Executive Board wants all campus organizations, individuals, faculty, staff, and members of the Athens community to join us in the fight against cancer. Interested people can sign up by going to www.relayforlife.org/cuwv. For more information, Woodyard can be reached at Anthony.Woodyard@cancer.org or (540) 774-2717. If you would like to donate online directly to American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life of Concord University, all of the fundraising teams will be available at relayforlife.com/cuwv.