This Saturday, hundreds of thousands of spectators will flock to the Head of the Charles in Boston to see a swarm of collegiate and Olympic teams compete in a six-kilometer river race. But one group might draw more attention than others — Brown's men's crew team plans to wear all-pink uniforms as a part of its "Pull for a Cure" breast cancer fundraiser.
Dan Aziz '11, who is in charge of the effort, said his team has already exceeded its original goal of raising $10,000, collecting nearly double that amount so far.
Each of the team's 45 members was asked to collect at least $100, but many exceeded that target. Aziz said rowers asked their families and friends for money, sent e-mails and even went door to door on occasion. Though only 20 members of the team will actually be racing this weekend, the others also helped with the fundraising efforts, Aziz said.
Aziz was motivated to get the team involved in breast cancer awareness and support because he had "a lot of ties" to victims and survivors of breast cancer, he said, and because October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Head Coach Paul Cooke '89 said the fundraising efforts are a testament to the team's consistent effort to represent Brown well.
"All of the excitement has come from within the team," he said.
The team plans to make this an annual event, extend the challenge to other schools' teams and perhaps even make a competition out of it, according to Aziz.
Crew is currently only in its unofficial season, so members typically wear "fun" uniforms to the race. Aziz said the rowers were excited to don their "really sweet, all-pink uniforms."
Cooke said the race was extremely competitive because international teams compete alongside the local ones. "The guys are really looking forward to it and are reasonably well-prepared," he said.
This weekend's race, the Head of the Charles, is the world's largest two-day rowing event, according to its Web site.
