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W&L's Students for St. Jude Honored

Washington and Lee’s Students for St. Jude Program, which raises funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, in Memphis, was recognized during the annual St. Jude Collegiate Leadership Seminar in July, when co-director Olivia Kantwill, a senior from Lorton, Va., received the Danny Thomas Scholarship on behalf of the program.

The $1,000 scholarship recognized the progress that the W&L students have made since the program returned to the W&L campus in the fall of 2009. Olivia, co-director Molly Rountree, a senior from Andover, Mass., and Angela Tuminno, a senior from Buffalo, N.Y., are the three remaining founding members of the W&L organization, which is part of a nationwide collegiate program that raises money and awareness for St. Jude through campus events.

According to Olivia, this past academic year was particularly successful for the group. She cited three major milestones:

  • The addition of a new event, the first annual “Up Til Dodge” Dodgeball Tournament;
  • A doubling of both money raised and participation from the previous year;
  • A total of $20,000 raised during the past three years since the program’s return.

The dodgeball tournament, which was held in May in Doremus Gymnasium, raised just under $13,000. It will be held again in May 2013. The group’s initial fund-raising effort will be done online. Members of the W&L community who raise a minimum amount during the fall will be eligible for a Nov. 8 evening of entertainment. “It will be a celebration of the hospital, the money raised and the amazing things the money will bring to the lives of children with cancer,” said Olivia.

Anyone interested in making a donation to St. Jude via the students’ program should email generalsforstjude@gmail.com.  Their goal for the 2012-13 academic year is $25,000.