Walking into Chancellor Roger Brown’s office at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, it’s obvious he’s been a fan of “the pink” for many years. Plaques, pictures and medals from the annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure – held each year on UTC’s sprawling downtown campus – cover his bookshelves and desk. While the school’s commitment to host the 12-year-old race was in place before Brown’s tenure, he is thrilled to continue the tradition, recently signing an agreement to keep the event on campus for the next 10 years. “I think it’s one of the best community activities that this campus participates in,” he says. And while he happily dons his t-shirt and shorts on race day, his involvement this year gets a bit dressier, namely with a silk necktie.
Brown is part of the inaugural “Dozen Pink Tie Guys,” an idea hatched by Sarah Bowen, one of the founders of the Chattanooga Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure in 2000. In addition to a full-time job, she currently serves as president of the board of directors as well as head of the race’s sponsorship and marketing and PR committees. Despite her hectic pace, she’s managed to convince 12 local men to suit up in the fight against breast cancer.
2011 CLASS: FRONT ROW: Jason Taylor, Lewis Dyer, Darrell Moore, Ron Harr and Bill Aiken BACK ROW: Dan Wolfe, Bill McCollum, Rex Allen and Randall HebertHappily, Bowen didn’t have to push too hard to recruit her team. Several men have personal ties to the disease, such as Randall Hebert, whose wife was diagnosed in 1994. As a CPA, Hebert helped “crunch the numbers” for starting the local affiliate as well as the first race. This interconnectedness struck Darrell Moore the first time he wore his tie.
“You don’t find anyone who hasn’t been touched by breast cancer, either through a family member or close friend,” says the Parkridge Medical Center CEO. Wearing his tie about once a week, he generates enthusiastic support walking the halls of his hospital’s cancer unit as well as curiosity from the general community. “For the most part it generates a very positive conversation, as well as the difficulties and challenges patients go through from detection to treatment.”
The Pink Tie concept isn’t entirely new – a handful of Komen affiliates across the country have attempted similar programs. But instead of asking the men to buy their tie at a local shop, Bowen wanted to step it up a notch. When a coworker turned her onto local tie designer Matt Wilson of Wilson & Bow, she approached him with the idea. “She asked if we would be willing to donate several pink ties in an existing design,” recalls Wilson. “I said, ‘How about we do a little better – a custom-designed tie with the Komen logo on the house?'”