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Syracuse University and the American Cancer Society are teaming up once again to fight cancer with the 2011 SU/ESF Relay for Life, Saturday, April 9, into Sunday, April 10, at the Carrier Dome. The Relay for Life committee has been working since August to make this relay the largest one yet.

The American Cancer Society Relay for Life events are held in communities around the world to give everyone the chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost and fight back against the disease. At the relay, teams of people camp out at a local school, park or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, relays are overnight events as long as 24 hours.

Friends, classmates, sports teams, clubs, Greek organizations, residence halls, faculty and staff can help in the fight by forming their own teams, which raise funds online leading up to the event. Currently, 38 teams have formed, with more than 790 participants currently raising money for the relay. The first 2011 Relay For Life team captain meeting will be held Monday, March 7, at 8 p.m. in Room 202 in the Hall of Languages. The meeting will provide helpful information regarding what to expect the night of the relay and in the month leading up to the event.

The 2010 Relay for Life brought together more than 2,500 students, faculty, staff and Syracuse community members and raised a Syracuse Relay record of more than $153,000. The relay was ranked by the American Cancer Society as one of the top five “Per Capita Relays” in the nation, raising the highest online revenue of college relays in the Eastern Division in 2009 and 2010. Committee members are hoping to make this year a “3-peat.” The event has grown so large in the last five years it was moved from Manley Field House to the Carrier Dome.

Alpha Phi Omega Co-Ed National Service Fraternity (APO) initially brought the relay to SU/ESF, honoring a graduating brother who was a cancer survivor. APO is the driving force for the success of the event. The planning committee consists mainly of students, with APO alumni returning each year to participate in the relay each year.

The 2011 SU/ESF Relay is under the direction of student team co-chairs Janae DeRusso and Kelsie Bouchard, both members of Alpha Phi Omega.

Lynne Mowers, secretary to the director of SU Food Services, secures food donations for the relay and assists as a member of the planning committee. She says she hasn’t missed a relay since the event started on campus nearly a decade ago. For Mowers, the relay is personal. “This event showcases what’s good in so many of our young people today and their drive to help others,” Mowers says. “My husband is the only person in his immediate family that has not been diagnosed or lost a battle with cancer.”

For more information, or to sign up and participate in the 2011 Relay for Life of Syracuse University, log onto , or contact Taylor Prokes at trprokes@gmail.com, or co-chairs Bouchard and DeRusso at info@syracuserelay.org.

Until March 27, relay participants can register for $10. On March 28, that fee increases to $20, where it will remain up to and including the day of the event. Registration on the website will be shut down at midnight on Saturday, April 2. After that, anyone wishing to attend the relay will do so as a walk-in by paying the $20 fee at the door.