In order to bring attention and spread awareness on testicular cancer, members of a student group put the balls in their court.
In honor of Testicular Cancer Awareness Month, senior public relations majors Charisse Barnachea, Allinston Saulsberry and Brittany Flowers have dedicated their senior capstone project to the cause by forming their group, CorLeonis.
The “Go Blue to Protect You” campaign aims to raise awareness among men and educate the public about testicular cancer.
“We felt like there are a lot of campaigns out there that raise awareness for other cancers like breast cancer,” Barnachea said. “We know there has been a campaign called Movember [for testicular cancer], and we kind of want to do something like that and make our own spin on it.”
CorLeonis is also in the process of working with the American Cancer Society and the Peoria Chiefs.
Barnachea said she wants people to take away general knowledge from the campaign.
“I don’t think there are many people at Bradley that know about [testicular cancer],” Barnachea said. “We thought it’s the perfect environment here to target college-aged males. We’re also going to try to reach out to older males in the community.”
According to Barnachea, CorLeonis is still in the preliminary stages and is in the process of deciding which events to organize with the Peoria Chiefs, who agreed to be the face of the campaign.
“We want to educate the public because we know that not many people do self-examinations,” she said. “It’s one of those things that is not necessarily taboo, but people feel uncomfortable talking about it.”
Saulsberry said the subject matter hits home for her because her uncle died of prostate cancer. He did not know the symptoms and went to an examination too late.
“I believe that bringing awareness to testicular cancer can hopefully get males to take their health more seriously, which will encourage them to make regular appointments and get themselves tested,” she said.
Aside from raising awareness and encouraging testing, Saulsberry said she hopes her group can successfully bridge the American Cancer Society with the Peoria Chiefs in hopes of a new partnership for the future.
“We just want to tell people to be more proactive about their help. We want to break that stigma,” Barnachea said. “You don’t have to be that scared because it’s actually 100 percent treatable with early detection. If you detect it later on, then you have less chance of recovering.”
For more information, call CorLeonis at (847) 331-5465 or email corleonisagency@gmail.com.
