Heart disease has been identified as the leading cause of death for women in America. What can a group of students and faculty at Illinois State University do about it?
The students are raising money and the professors - all men - are vying for the chance to wear a red dress while teaching their classes.
Students in Kinesiology and Recreation (KNR) instructor Karen Dennis' Exercise in Health and Disease class have formed teams to raise money for the American Heart Association (AHA) and participate in the AHA Heart Walk at Illinois State's Hancock Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 23.
The fundraising efforts by student team members involve "voting" with monetary donations for the male KNR faculty member that they would like to see wearing a red dress in class. Collection cans labeled with the names of the professors are located in the KNR offices in McCormick Hall and Horton Field House. The "voting" process will run through Friday, Sept. 15.
The faculty member whose name receives the most donation "votes" will be chosen to wear the red dress on Friday, Sept. 22. Fundraising will continue throughout the week leading up to the winner's dressy debut. KNR faculty members who are competing to wear the red dress are Steve McCaw, Matt Martin, Peter Smith, Rob Sipes and Kevin Laudner.
This is the second year that students in Dennis' class have raised money for the American Heart Association. Last year, exercise science professor Dave Thomas wore a red dress to class after students raised $4,500 dollars.
The AHA's "Go Red for Women" campaign has adopted the red dress pin to symbolize the problem of heart disease in women. The "Go Red" campaign promotes proper nutrition and exercise as ways to reduce the disease risk.
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