Everyone Backs Pat

Samantha Braley
Sigma Kappa

The week of January 15-22 gave the meaning of coming together in the South a whole new name. Throughout this week, the entire Southeastern Conference decided to put rivalries aside and join the University of Tennessee by taking part in the “We Back Pat” campaign to help raise Alzheimer’s awareness and support the Lady Vols' head basketball coach, Pat Summit, with her ongoing battle.

Each SEC school took part in this campaign to raise money for The Pat Summit Foundation Fund. This fund is set out to raise education and awareness of Alzheimer’s and its treatment, provide support services to patients, their families, and caregivers, and raise money for research to treat, prevent, cure, and ultimately eliminate this disease.

For the games played throughout this week, each team represented Pat Summit and showed their support by wearing school inspired “We Back Pat” shirts. At the University of Tennessee, the bookstore has sold more of this particular shirt than any other item ever carried at the store and has raised $200,000 from T-shirts alone. Along with wearing these shirts, some schools even donated 100 percent of their profits from the entire week to the Pat Summit Foundation.

Having this kind of support from every SEC school instead of just UT just goes to show that Pat Summit is not only a legend to people of the Knoxville area and the University of Tennessee, but that she is an icon to people everywhere. She has proven herself to be one of the strongest and most deserving coaches in college basketball. The entire Southeastern Conference proved this by their suppport this week that they, too, believe in the things that can be accomplished through this incredible campaign and foundation.

This week was not only about showing support for Pat Summit, but also about spreading the awareness. Many people are misinformed or uneducated about the Alzheimer's disease. Having teams from all over the SEC support this campaign helps get more people (not only in the South, but all over the country) interested and informed about the incurable disease and this foundation trying to end it. This week helped raised thousands of dollars in a great way for a great cause. Pat Summit is a role model to all, and with support like this, there’s no end to the things that can be accomplished.

Samantha is a sophomore studying journalism. You may contact her at sbraley1@utk.edu.