The most important statistic of the week is “one in three.”
It doesn’t signify a team’s win-loss record. It isn’t a player’s batting average, and it isn’t the rate at which the school snags high-profile recruits. “One in three” is the reason that there has been a lot of walking going on during the past week—and no, it isn’t around any bases. It’s walking for a cause.
For example, one in three people will, during his or her lifetime, be diagnosed with cancer. That’s the reason for the first walk—the 5th annual Columbia University Relay for Life, which was the reason for the big white tents on campus last weekend. Relay is a 15-hour team walkathon and fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, and is the largest not-for-profit fundraiser in the world. Participants walk for hours to show their support for those who are fighting cancer, and to commemorate those who have lost the battle. “One in three” is a scary statistic to comprehend—if it’s true, it means that one member of my family will be diagnosed.
The reality of cancer statistics is the reason that Relay for Life has become such an important campus event every year. Hundreds of students and community members participate so that someday those statistics will change. The change is already underway—new research comes out every day that identifies certain behaviors as high risk factors for cancer. Most recently, I read a study that suggests there may be a correlation between alcohol consumption and breast cancer. But only more research, more funding, and more walking will be able to tell.
Another reason that “one in three” has come to my attention lately is all the fliers on campus this week—one in three women worldwide has experienced rape or sexual assault in her lifetime. One in three American women will. Take Back the Night staged its annual march and “speakout” Thursday night, as it has done since 1988. It’s a statement about a need for all people to feel safe in their sexuality and in their personal security. As the posters tell you, sexual violence isn’t just a women’s issue. The marching unified women and men of all races and orientations in a statement against violence, against predatory behaviors, and against feeling unsafe when out on the town. Not quite a fundraiser, it is primarily a campaign to increase awareness and unite everyone in the community around the creation of a safe space. The community walks together in hopes that, one day, nobody will have to fear walking home alone.
Athletes are famous for finding ways to walk with charities. For the American Cancer Society, Tim Duncan has been listed as a top celebrity donor, in addition to the work that he does with his own nonprofit foundation that benefits youth programs. Super Bowl MVP and New York hero Eli Manning will be this year’s chairman of another important fundraising walk—the New York City March of Dimes’ March for Babies. Go to Lincoln Center on the morning of April 27 to glimpse this superstar walking among the masses to help aid premature babies and to prevent birth defects
If you missed Relay for Life and Take Back the Night, there are many more important walks you can participate in this year. If Columbia alumni are near and dear to your heart, you might participate in the Walk to Defeat ALS this spring. It benefits those with Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
On the evening of June 7, anyone who is hanging around Manhattan for the summer can fundraise for and participate in Out of the Darkness, a 20-mile overnight walk. Out of the Darkness is an annual event to promote awareness of suicide and life-threatening mood disorders—subjects that hit close to home for many college students.
In addition, there are several walks dedicated solely to breast cancer. The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer is coming up again in October, and there is also the annual American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk that happens all over New York around the same time. If you are leaving the city, you can also participate in the Breast Cancer 3-Day, a series of nationwide, 60-mile walks to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure. No matter where you spend your summer, there’s a way to participate and feel connected to the people around you who support the same cause.
So even though beautiful spring weather has finally found Manhattan and the baseball team is off to an impressive start, it’s important to take a moment to concentrate on the other kind of walk. No matter what issue is important to you, there is always a rally or other fundraiser meant to unite people with action. All you have to do is choose to walk.
Lisa Lewis is a Barnard College sophomore majoring in economics.
sports@columbiaspectator.com.