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A University Walks as One: Community Rallies Around Chancellor Kent Syverud

Students, faculty and staff will gather on April 28 to walk in support of Chancellor Syverud and raise funds for brain cancer research.
Kelly Homan Rodoski April 22, 2026

Sixty student organizations. Gray ribbons. Handwritten letters. A prayer. On Tuesday, April 28, the University community will rally to respond to Chancellor Kent Syverud’s recent cancer diagnosis with an unmistakable show of community and solidarity.

(SGA), in partnership with 60 recognized student organizations, will host a Go Gray in May: Brain Cancer Awareness Month Walk. The event will begin at noon in the Schine Student Center with a walk to Crouse-Hinds Hall at 2:30 p.m. There, the Rev. Devon Bartholomew, Christian Protestant chaplain at Hendricks Chapel, will lead those assembled in a prayer.

Chancellor Syverud announced on April 15 that he has been diagnosed with a form of brain cancer. He is currently undergoing treatment at University of Michigan Medicine.

鈥淎fter the news broke, our SGA executive team came together to ask ourselves one question: 鈥楬ow do we respond?鈥欌 says German Nolivos 鈥26, SGA president. 鈥淐hancellor Syverud has been there for all of us鈥攖hrough every hard moment this University has faced. This is our chance to be there for him and his family.鈥

Exterior shot of Schine Student Center
A walk from Schine Student Center to Crouse-Hinds Hall will begin at 2:30 p.m. on April 28.

May is Brain Cancer Awareness Month, and the event will raise funds for the . Organizers are encouraging members of the University community to consider making a monetary donation. 鈥淭he most powerful thing we can do in this moment is fund the fight,鈥 Nolivos says.

Those who donate $15 or more and submit a screenshot of their donation to , the SGA鈥檚 home on Instagram, can claim a free T-shirt at Schine at the April 28 event.

Participants in the walk are encouraged to wear gray and pick up a gray ribbon at Schine that day. There will be a community poster wall for students, faculty and staff to leave messages of support for Chancellor Syverud and anyone in the community affected by brain cancer. There will also be a letter-writing station where individuals can write personal letters of support to Chancellor Syverud and Dr. Ruth Chen.

Participating organizations span every dimension of campus life: fraternities and sororities, cultural and identity organizations, pre-professional societies, advocacy groups, athletic clubs, honor societies and more. Nolivos says this will be the largest coalition of student organizations ever assembled for a single awareness event in recent University history.

鈥淲hen 60 organizations come together, that鈥檚 not just coordination鈥攖hat鈥檚 conviction,鈥 Nolivos says. 鈥淓very single one of these groups is choosing to show up. That means something. That tells you something about who we are as a university.鈥

Additionally, the SGA Assembly passed a formal resolution on April 15 extending formal gratitude and support to Chancellor Syverud.

鈥淐hancellor Syverud has given this institution 12 years of transformational leadership,鈥 says Nolivos. 鈥淗e has shown up for students, for faculty, for staff and for this community through its hardest chapters. April 28 is our opportunity, all of us, to show up for him.鈥