By Victoria Durgin, Asst. Digital Media Editor
Students, faculty and staff gathered in the Shearer dining rooms on April 14 in remembrance and celebration of cancer victims and survivors.
The event, designated a “Night of Hope” in partnership with the American Cancer Society, was organized after members of the Susquehanna community were upset there would be no Relay of
Life held on campus.
“When I announced it wasn’t happening, people really reacted,” said junior Audrey Reynolds, one of the organizers of the event.
She organized the event with junior Virginia Wiand, a fellow sorority sister who also has a personal experience with cancer.
The Night of Hope gave several speakers the opportunity to discuss their personal connections to cancer. Reynolds and Wiand both spoke about their fathers’ battles with the disease.
Reynolds told the audience she never had the chance to know her father when he was healthy; he had fought cancer for most of her childhood before ultimately dying of the disease a few years ago.
Wiand also told the audience about her father’s experience with cancer, and his ultimate defeat of the disease just last year.
Three other students spoke about loved ones they lost to cancer. Each shared heartfelt memories and messages with the audience.
First-year Deanna James Bunce spoke first. She told the story of a young girl named Audrey she met while working as a counselor at a camp for young cancer patients and their families.
Bunce described Audrey as a girl full of brightness and positivity. Bunce left the audience with the image of a young girl who had a lot of things to give others, and a whole life in front of her with which to give. This, Bunce said, is what made Audrey’s death so hard to process.
“I think the hardest part of losing a loved one is knowing what could have been,” Bunce told the crowd.
After a moment of reflection following Bunce’s words, sophomore Aneilia Cummings spoke about her mother.
Cummings reflected on both her mother’s fight with breast cancer and her own personal fights with grief and acceptance. Cummings’ mother died of stage four breast cancer in 2018 after two fights with the disease. The diagnoses left her mother bedridden and sickly for a significant part of Cummings’ childhood, but it took her years to come to terms with the inevitable: the cancer would ultimately be fatal.
“I had to learn the universe does not stop spinning for anyone,” Cummings said as she remembered the day her mother died.
During her speech Cummings reflected on the woman her mother was apart from being a cancer victim. She described her mother as her angel, a brave and strong woman who would do anything for her children and those she loved.
Junior Carly Rogers also spoke about her cousin and aunt, both of whom died from cancer, and her uncle, who is currently battling the disease. She summed up her feelings first in a few simple words.
“Cancer sucks, it’s as simple as that,” Rogers said at the beginning of her remarks.
She went on to tell the crowd about her cousin Rachael, a counselor for cancer patients who found herself fighting the disease.
Two staff members also spoke about their cancer battles.
Marylou Klotz, associate professor of psychology at Susquehanna, beat cancer her junior year of college.
She asked the audience to not fear the word cancer and to continue to spread awareness and educate others about the disease.
Bob Leonhardt, the food services worker often found in Evert Dining Hall, told the audience he has been diagnosed with cancer five times and has survived every time. He asked students to consider volunteering as a patient caretaker.
Although the night featured heavy stories of loss, the event did also offer hope for the future.