Alum and Students Make Four Home Runs at the Boston Marathon

Our students (and alums) are beyond fantastic.  We all know that.  They are highly recruited, so smart, and destined to be leaders.   Today, I want to take a moment and to recognize a few members of our community, who have demonstrated exemplary leadership through their participation in this year's Boston Marathon.  I admire their effort so much and believe they have hit a "home run" for themselves and for the Institute.  See what you think:

Home Run Number 1: First off, CSD 2007 alum, Janis Greim decided to combine her passion for running and her commitment to the IHP into a remarkable memorial for her classmate, Chris Norman, (CSD 2007), who passed away suddenly last year.   Janis, who now lives in Pennsylvania, and works as a speech-language pathologist for a rehabilitation agency, entered the Boston Marathon with a goal of raising funds in memory of Chris.  When the Norman family heard of this, they developed a matching challenge to inspire Janis' classmates, faculty, and others to make a donation.  At the end of the 26 mile run, Janis' leadership inspired over $15,000 of commitment for future students in CSD!   Janis, now back at home, sent a wonderful message yesterday, and in it she said :    ..." But running is really the pinnacle of the sport, it decides who wins and tests you when you’re at your most vulnerable point in the race.  More than that though, by itself, running is such an innately natural part of who we are as humans. And it occurred to me, Chris taught me that. He taught me about running. It has become such a powerful medium for expression. People run out of anger, fear, pain, boredom, joy, excitement, worry, love. . . Running is colorful, just like Chris. That’s why I think he was drawn to it. So at the end of the day, I think I’m lucky for having gone through all of this. I got to learn something about Chris and something about myself.  

Kailin's fortitude and will raised over $5000 for the PT Center at the Institute.