Virginia Tech professor buzzes her hair in class for charity
‘You cannot lead what you are not willing to follow’
Dr. Courtney I. P. Thomas, professor and advisor in the Political Science department, buzzed her hair off during her Introduction to World Politics class to show her support for children with cancer. She volunteers with a charity called Special Love, and wanted to demonstrate her love for the program to her 400-student class. We sat down with her to learn more about the charity and her passion for it.
Special Love began in the early 1980s when Tom and Shelia Baker had lost their daughter to cancer. According to Dr. Thomas, “They’re very much ‘make lemonade out of lemons’ type-people.” They approached the local 4-H Camp leader about creating a special camp for children with cancer. Soon enough, Camp Fantastic was born. It’s a free, week-long camp for 7-17 year olds that follows the 4-H model. The National Cancer Institute provides all the medical support during the week so that no child is ever too sick to come to camp.
Special Love recognizes that when a child gets cancer, the whole family gets cancer. So, BRASS, a camp for siblings of cancer patients, and family programs were created. Now, they have a program for young adults with cancer that serves survivors and patients up to 25 years old. This program in particular helps young adult cancer patients transition from being a pediatric patient to the full adult experience.
Dr. Thomas, how did you get involved with Special Love?
My husband, Chris, was a camper from 1989 to 1995. When we got engaged in 1999, he insisted on bringing me to camp. He said very bluntly, “If they don’t like you, we can’t get married.” Camp is very much an enormous extended family, so things like this become very natural.
Why buzz your hair?
Five years ago, Special Love approached me about building up a presence in this part of the state. Most campers come from the NoVA, Tidewater and Richmond areas because that’s where the major treatment hospitals are. We knew we had patients and families in the Southwest Virginia area, but we had a hard time connecting with them. So I was chosen to plant the flag and say “We’re here.”
Some BRASS counselors, who were also students, helped me create a “Friends of Special Love” organization on campus. We partner with Buzzing for Change Foundation as a fundraiser each fall. I’m a big believer in you cannot lead what you are not willing to follow, so that first year, I buzzed my hair on the last Sunday in September (which is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month) along with everyone else. It was an incredibly liberating experience.
Why buzz your hair in front of the class this year?
Well, I was going to be in a wedding, and the bride specifically asked me to not buzz my hair before the wedding. This meant I couldn’t participate in our September event. So I struck a deal with Grace [a student member of the organization] that she could buzz my hair in front of my class as soon as the wedding was over. This turned out to be a really good thing, because people were approaching me afterward about both wanting to volunteer with the organization and that their family member qualifies for camp!
Why is this cause important to you?
Childhood cancer is almost completely ignored. I don’t know if it’s because sick children make us sad or what. One in 300 children will be diagnosed with cancer before their 21st birthday, yet there have been almost no new FDA-approved drugs or therapies for treatment of children in the last 20 years. We need to make people aware that this can happen to children and the families in their communities.
Grace (left) and Dr. Thomas
How can students get involved with Special Love?
We have a Facebook page and listserv for our campus organization. We have our buzzing event in the fall and our Pie Your Professor event in the spring. We’re 100% funded by donations, profit-sharing, etc., so these events are important to Special Love. Right now we’re working with Roanoke Memorial Hospital to get volunteers in to do crafts and such with patients, and we do outreach to local families who are in the middle of treatment. That being said, we are always open to new ideas and would love more volunteers at camp.
Special Love is very personal to my family and to the families of the campers. It’s so important to raise awareness about childhood cancer and to give these kids a week (or more!) where they can just be kids.
Visit specialove.org for more information about the foundation, or feel free to reach out to Dr. Thomas.