Kenyon Collegian

Issue date: 2/11/10 Section: News

Media Credit: Lili Martinez The Motown Band plays at the ALS benefit concert.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a debilitating nerve and muscle disease, affects approximately one out of every 100,000 people. If this statistic seems insignificant, think of it this way: two of those people are directly related to the Kenyon community - and were honored last week at the Village Inn during a benefit spearheaded by one of Kenyon's own students on Feb. 5.

Nate Gray '10, whose stepmother passed away from ALS his first year of college, had been mulling over the idea of a fundraiser for ALS for a long time, but after returning from Winter Break to his last semester of college he thought it was "finally a good time" to organize a benefit. He originally planned to donate any proceeds from the event to the family of Professor of Drama Thomas Turgeon, who currently suffers from ALS. "I know it's a really expensive disease," Gray said. "Even the computers that you need are sometimes $20,000, and my family was lucky enough to be able to afford that, but I know other people around may not be able to, so I just wanted to donate to him." Gray reconsidered after speaking to Associate Professor of Drama Andrew Reinert, who "said the best thing to do would be a donation in honor of Tom, and so I was cool with that," Gray said. "We sort of made it a joint collaborative thing in honor of Professor Turgeon, too, and in memory of my stepmom."

Perhaps the most impressive thing about the benefit was the speed of the planning. Mark Ellis, the news director for the Office of Public Affairs, was surprised but enthusiastic when Gray "popped in" looking for help. "We just chatted about what was going on, but at the time, the whole [event] was still being formed and it seemed like there wasn't a whole lot of time to get everything together," said Ellis. "But he was so enthusiastic and so committed and it's such a terrific cause that we were more than happy to help." Ellis arranged a press release for the Kenyon Web site, which Gray said he greatly appreciated. "Mark did a College press release for the event and was really enthusiastic," he said. "I think once you mention Professor Turgeon's name to people around here, it really resonates, and everyone has been super supportive. I'm really grateful for their help. I've just done my best to contact people and tell my story."

Continued...

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