Colleges and departments across Michigan State University participated in the annual Capital City Dragon Boat Race fundraiser Sept. 16 to support the Women’s Center of Greater Lansing.
The annual fundraiser provides communities across the Lansing area with a unique team-building experience, as well as ab opportunity to raise money for the local nonprofit, which provides career and personal counseling, support groups and other services women need.
This year, nine of the 20 racing teams were affiliated with MSU:
- Broad Means Business (Broad College of Business)
- “WKAR,” College of Communication Arts and Science
- “Dragon Warrior,” Confucius Institution MSU
- “Global Oars team,” International Studies, Honors and Graduate School
- “Green and White,” MSUFCU
- “Jabberwock,” College of Arts and Letters
- “Osteopathic Med-COM SGA,” College of Osteopathic Medicine
- “Social Warriors,” College of Social Work
- “EMBA,” College of Business Master’s Program
The annual event, which took place at Hawk Island Park in Lansing, included a group tai-chi workout before the race and Chinese culture activity booths following.
Faculty, staff and students comprised teams representing MSU, and deans from the College of Arts and Letters and Broad College challenged fellow deans from across the university to participate.
“We feel feel really strongly about helping women to achieve their full potential, and this is a key organization in our community that does that,” said Cheri DeClercq, assistant dean for MBA programs at the Broad College of Business, who serves on the Women’s Center’s Board of Directors.
The fundraiser raised more than $30,000, in large part due to the MSU community’s participation.
“The dragon boat race is an opportunity for us to make a strong stand in support of the initiatives and of the center itself, and it’s been exciting to see so many faculty and staff literally jumping on board to make that happen,” DeClercq said.