Southeastern alumnus and Good Morning America host Robin Roberts was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) in June, a blood disorder that affects the bone marrow. In African-American women the chance of finding a bone marrow donor in a sibling is extremely rare, but lucky for Roberts, her sister Sally Ann Roberts, WWL-TV morning news anchor, was a perfect match.
Since her diagnosis, students at Southeastern have been one group among many, nationwide, to show their love and support for #TeamRobin by starting “Swabbin 4 Robin.”  
The student initiative is led by Whitney Christy, who has a personal connection with bone marrow donation. Christy’s father was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia, and in 2002 he received a bone marrow transplant from his older sister. This month her family is celebrating his 10 year recovery since the transplant.
As a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success, Christy wanted to bring awareness to campus about the importance of bone marrow donation.
“The campaign began when I reached out to Natalie Rowe, a ‘Be The Match’ representative for the southern region,” Christy said. “When I reached out to Natalie, she asked me to help because I knew about it first hand and they needed students that could lead the campaign.”
At various athletic events, the group is seen under their green and gold tent trying to recruit students willing to ‘swab’ for Robin. The mouth swab is what will tell if the student is a match or not. The DNA sample is then placed into the national bone marrow registry, and if they are a match they will be contacted and asked if they wish to donate. It is not required that any student who swabs will have to donate if they are a match, but it is important that students are serious about what they may be embarking on.
“Students should get involved because they are potentially saving someone’s life,” Christy said. “But students should not take this lightly when registering, because they are potentially giving someone hope by becoming their donor.”
There are two ways to go about donating bone marrow. One, you can give through peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC). It is a nonsurgical procedure through which the donor has five days of injections of filgrastim-a substance that increases the number of blood-forming cells in the bloodstream-leading up to the donation. When the donor’s blood is drawn, the blood-forming cells are separated from the blood. Secondly, one can do a marrow donation which is an outpatient procedure where the donor is placed under anesthesia. The doctor uses a needle to extract bone marrow from the donor’s pelvic bone to transfer to the patient in need.
On a post Roberts put on abcnews.com in June 2012, she explained how her sister was an “excellent match, and this greatly improves my chances for a cure,” Roberts said.
Christy hopes the campaign will reach far and wide through Southeastern so students will know how important it is to help someone in need.
“My hope for this campaign is that it will grow and reach a vast amount of people in different communities,” said Christy. “The number of minority bone marrow donors in the registry is extremely low, so we are reaching out to African Americans and Latinos to help us increase those numbers.”
Anyone interested in volunteering with the initiative can sign up in the Student Life office.
“We have events coming up and can use any help we can. Students must participate in a 15-20 minute training before they volunteer,” Christy said.
Visit their website selu.edu/swabbin4robin for more information about where they will be at upcoming events.