Cal State Northridge’s MBA students, staff, faculty and alumni haa a very personal reason when they set out to raise $5,000for the Lymphoma & Leukemia Society–management professor Alan Glassman and late MBA faculty member Joan Dahl.
Glassman was diagnosed in February with lymphoma and midway through the semester he had to pull out of teaching an MBA class to focus on his treatment. Alumni and faculty fondly remembered Dahl, a well-liked professor of management, who passed away in 1999 from multiple myeloma.
“As MBA director, I’ve been seeking an event in which our students, alumni, faculty and staff, could come together for a cause in the community–to show off our CSUN spirit as well as have fun and togetherness while serving a good cause,” said Deborah Cours, director of graduate and evening programs in CSUN’s College of Business and Economics.
‘Light the Night’ is a national effort by the leukemia society to pay tribute and bring hope to thousands of people battling blood cancers and to commemorate loved ones lost.
“When Dr. Glassman had to undergo his treatment, another professor substituted to teach the rest of the class,” said Cours. “At the end of the term, some of the students from Dr. Glassman’s class were at an event I attended. They inquired about his health and asked if there was anything they could do. About that time, I had received a solicitation from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to participate in Light the Night. Suddenly, it seemed like the perfect fit.”
The fundraising for this cause does not stop with the first Night the Light though. On Saturday, Nov. 6, from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m., members of CSUNs MBA community will be at T.G.I. Friday’s, 5919 Canoga Ave. in Woodland Hills to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
It turned out that current CSUN student Mark Joaquin is TGI Fridays Woodland Hills’ general manager . He replied to Cours’s announcement about Light the Night: “As part of our business plan, we aim to give back to the community by sponsoring benefit nights for local and national non-profit organizations. I have worked very closely with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for the past two years sponsoring teams that participate in Light the Night and also putting together restaurant nights to help raise money and awareness for LLS on behalf of TGI Friday’s and for others looking for corporate sponsorship.”
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society funds lifesaving research that has contributed to major advances in the treatment of blood cancers and treatments for other types of cancer, such as chemotherapy and stem cell transplants. New targeted therapies that kill cancer cells without harming normal tissue are providing drugs and procedures that are improving quality of life.
