Donald Keough, News Editor–
A cluster of football players huddled around a tent on A-quad, enthusiastically encouraging passersby to participate in an event partnered with the National Marrow Donation Program (NMDP) on April 10.
After filling out a google form, participants are given a swab kit. In the kit, there are two large Q-tips that are used to swirl around the inside of your cheek, which collects information about someone’s HLA type.
Your HLA type determines your immune system’s ability to combat viruses, and specific HLA types are crucial to blood stem cell transplants, which minimize or eliminate over 75 different diseases. After your HLA Type is recorded, it enters a database, and when a patient in need matches with you, you’re asked to donate.
Along with the football players, Cadence Manuel ‘28 helped distribute and collect the swab kits. Manuel also has a personal connection with the program. Three years ago, she had a vital bone marrow transplant after the NMDP program found a donor who matched her HLA type.
“It saved my life, and ever since I’ve been cancer free,” Manuel said. “It was a long process, but they found a really good match.”
Manuel hoped that others like her could find matches in similar cases through the event’s efforts. By the end of their tabling, 134 participants were swabbed.
The same program was hosted in 2023, and they successfully found several matching donors. One of these student matches is donating next week.
“It’s been amazing,” said Tonya Davis, an account executive for NMDP. “I’ve already seen the tremendous impact that the football team has had.”
Davis has been with NMDP for 14 years and was one of the organizers of the event. She said that college campuses are prime locations to find donors because students are young, healthy and diverse.
NMDP also partners with an array of different college campus groups, such as Greek life organizations and service groups. They also work directly with patients’ families to help find donors. In total, NMDP has supported over 130,000 patients through cell transplants since 1987.
“The majority of the people here swabbing are going to age out of the database without getting calls, but a small percentage of them will go on and be life savers to those patients,” Davis said.
The “Get in the Game” partnership with NMDP targets sports teams to host events. It was started by Andy Talley, one of Villanova University’s previous head coaches.
The event was brought to Denison after Talley spoke with Jack Hatem, the head coach for Denison’s football team.
“He invited me to one of his events at the National coaches convention, and my wife and I went to the event, and we heard some of the stories, and we were like, ‘Oh, we gotta do this,’” Hatem said.
Hatem was one of the organizers who helped run this year’s program. He commented on the success of the event in 2023, such as the number of matches they found.
“What if there’s one person on campus that’s a match? It’s definitely worth a try,” Hatem said.
In addition to helping patients, Hatem also believes that the event helps build comradery in the team.
“It’s a ‘bring the team together’ kind of thing,” Hatem said, during the event. “[The] guys are having a good time, and they’re getting people registered.”
Oliver Kovass ‘26 was one of the players who helped run the event. He also agreed that the event helped bring the team together.
“The last time we did this was when we were freshmen and we actually had a match for someone,” Kovass said. “It’s pretty amazing how a small football team in Ohio can save a life.”