By Tre Shuttlesworth, Staff Writer
Susquehanna’s Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) and the Association for Women in Sports Media (AWSM) chapters are partnering to host a student vs. faculty volleyball tournament.
The “Lungs & Roses Volleyball Tournament” will be hosted on Thursday, Nov. 14 with the goal of raising awareness for cystic fibrosis.
Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disease that directly affects the lungs and digestive system. Over time, the disease often worsens in severity and decreases lifespan. Common symptoms are frequent lung infections and inhibiting the ability to breathe.
PRSSA chose cystic fibrosis awareness for a competition hosted by the PRSSA chapter at Rowan University in New Jersey. Several years ago, a student in PRSSA at Rowan died from cystic fibrosis.
The campaign started a bit late, with Rowan announcing the campaign back in October. Susquehanna’s PRSSA faculty advisor Linda Burkley said, “Admittedly, they got a late start, and we have not done as much as we would like to, but we hope to expand and grow in future years.”
Burkley is excited for the opportunity to have PRSSA and AWSM work together for this event. She noted how she is excited to work with AWSM advisor, David Kaszuba as well as the group’s members. .
“Events like this are great opportunities for our students to work together and better understand all of the facets of creating an event or campaign,” Burkley said.
The tournament will be part of a week of other informational events at Susquehanna that will bring light to the severity of cystic fibrosis. Students will be encouraged to wear purple in support of research for cystic fibrosis.
Dr. David Kaszuba, Associate Professor of Communications, Center for Teaching & Learning Coordinator, and faculty advisor for AWSM, notes his excitement for the event. “AWSM is happy to join with PRSSA to raise funds for cystic fibrosis. Not only is the fund-raising aspect rewarding, but in the process, we’re providing a fun outlet — a volleyball tournament — for students, faculty and staff to participate in.”
Senior Gian Fabian, vice president of AWSM, is helping to guide the organization in its second year at Susquehanna. “This is one of our biggest collaborations so far with another organization on campus.”
For AWSM, this is the second big collaboration with another student-run organization on campus. The group also collaborates with WQSU in the weekly PA Pigskin Preview Sports Show at Buffalo Wild Wings. This is the first collaboration between AWSM and PRSSA.
Going forward, Fabian hopes to organize events with other Susquehanna organizations. “We are trying to collaborate with as many organizations on campus that can collaborate with us on the same goals,” he said.
He sees AWSM and PRSSA as an excellent fit for programming events such as next week’s events. “PRSSA and AWSM both are supporters of sports but are also supporters of helping others,” Fabian added. “They’re very service oriented, and I feel like that’s what makes PRSSA and AWSM very easy to collaborate together. The main goal is to give back and provide some sort of service for people who are in dire need of help.”
During the rest of the week, the two groups will be passing out t-shirts, giveaways and informational signs with with cystic fibrosis facts in order to “provide the campus community with facts about cystic fibrosis and how they can help,” according to Burkley.
Students can sign up for the tournament in Degenstein Campus Center throughout the week and pick up a free purple ribbon for cystic fibrosis awareness of the disease. Proceeds will go towards the Central Pennsylvania Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
The tournament is being hosted at 7 p.m. on Nov. 14 in Garrett Sports Complex. Registration is $5 per person, and teams can range from seven to 10 players. The winning team will receive a $140 prize, and the proceeds from the volleyball tournament will go directly to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
