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SMU Relay For Life Earns Top Collegiate Honors By Raising Funds For Cancer Research

SMU student Lauren Castle covers the fundraising accomplishments of fellow Mustang Katie Schaible ’15 for USA TODAY’s Voices On Campus blog. Katie, who lost her father to cancer, was the top individual fundraiser for Relay For Life, benefiting the American Cancer Society. SMU was named the top collegiate chapter fundraiser in the country after raising approximately $176,400 this year, exceeding the $158, 000 goal. Kappa Alpha Theta topped the leader board for team fundraising this year. (Photo courtesy of Katie Schaible.)

A senior honoring her late father, a sorority rallying around a pledge – SMU students took this year’s Relay For Life personally, breaking records for raising funds that support cancer research.

Katie Schaible '15, who lost her father to cancer, was the top individual fundraiser in SMU's Relay For Life for the fourth consecutive year. Photo courtesy of Katie Schaible.
Katie Schaible ’15, who lost her father to cancer, was the top individual fundraiser in SMU’s Relay For Life for the fourth consecutive year. Photo courtesy of Katie Schaible.

SMU Relay For Life was named the number-one college Relay by the American Cancer Society (ACS). SMU competed against the top 25 university Relays in an online fundraising effort held February 23-25. SMU Relay garnered $45,534 in donations during the two-day event. Altogether, the university teams raised $315,654 for the ACS.
The ACS’s Relay For Life is an international effort designed to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease.
SMU collected approximately $176,400 for Relay For Life, exceeding the $158,000 goal, at its 12th annual Relay For Life event, which began April 10 at 6:30 p.m. and ended April 11 at 11:30 a.m. During the overnight fundraising walk,  more than 1,500 students and community members filled the Boulevard to raise awareness and funds in the fight against cancer.
For the fourth consecutive year, Katie Schaible ’15 was named the top individual fundraiser. Schaible, who lost her father to melanoma when she was 14, has raised more than $100,000 for Relay For Life over the past four years.
> Read more about Katie in a story by SMU student Lauren Castle posted on USA TODAY’s Voices On Campus blog
Kappa Alpha Theta took honors as the top team fundraiser by collecting more than $38,761. Like Schaible, the sorority had a personal stake in the philanthropic endeavor. After a junior in the Theta pledge class was diagnosed with cancer in the fall, the sorority chose Relay For Life as its platform to help fight cancer.

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