The Organization Formerly Known as V-SMAC...

In the fall of 2000, two committed students who wanted to make a difference in the fight against cancer founded an organization known as Vanderbilt Students Meeting for the Awareness of Cancer (V-SMAC).  V-SMAC was the first student-run organization at Vanderbilt devoted to increasing awareness of cancer-causing behaviors and supporting the efforts of Vanderbilt's and Nashville's cancer-focused agencies.

 V-SMAC began by sponsoring a number of activities on campus including the Great American Smokeout and Relay For Life as well as by encouraging the Vanderbilt to community to get involved in cancer-related work at the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center and Gilda's Club.  Their greatest contribution was in establishing Marrowthon, the Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drive.  In its first two years alone, the drive added over 1,000 people to the registry and earned national acclaim as the most successful collegiate registration drive during that time.  The legacy of Marrowthon remains with the organization and hundreds of new people are added to the registry each year.

Over the years, V-SMAC expanded its membership dramatically and increased the number of its activities to meet the interests of its members and the needs of the Vanderbilt and Nashville communities.  In the spring of 2006, the executive board, under leadership of Matt Hollar and Disha Kumar, decided to formally change the name of the organization from V-SMAC to the Vanderbilt Cancer Society.

The "Founding Fathers" and those who kept the spirit and memory of  V-SMAC alive... 

V-SMAC Founders and Early Members:

  • Rusty Phillips
  • Brandt McCammon
  • Lori Graves
  • Natalie Jacobowski
  • Rachel Calloway
  • Brooke Thompson
  • Sarah Wisecarver

Only two of the current board members remember the organization from its V-SMAC days.  When Amanda Jacobowski and Suniah Ayub graduate in the spring of 2008, they hope that the organization's illustrious history as V-SMAC will be carried on along with its mission of promoting cancer awareness and advocacy.

A stroll down memory lane... 

 

The busy registration tables of the first Marrowthon in December of 2001.

 

 

Dean Russell McIntire fills out the paperwork to join the National Marrow Donor Registry.


 

The legendary Lori C. Graves cordially attends to one of the many Marrowthon participants.