The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy will host a bone marrow registration drive today in support of Fletcher student Erica Murray, who is fighting leukemia.
Murray's best chance of survival is contingent upon finding a donor who closely matches her bone marrow type, said Gerard Sheehan, the Fletcher School's executive associate dean. The drive seeks to help connect Murray with a donor.
The drive will be held on the first floor of the Cabot Intercultural Center from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. All members of the Tufts community are encouraged to register. The registration process involves a cheek swab and a brief questionnaire to determine registration eligibility. Most people between the ages of 18 and 60 are eligible to register as bone marrow donors.
The Fletcher School's registration drive is specifically seeking non-white registrants. The school will receive free lab testing for all minorities who register. For every non-white who registers, one white registrant can register free.
The need for minority registrants stems from the lack of non-white donors in the national registry. According to the drive's Facebook.com event listing, less than three percent of people registered to donate bone marrow are non-white.
This is relevant to the Fletcher registration drive because Murray is multiracial, and is most likely to find a matching bone marrow donor of the same ethnicity.
Murray was diagnosed with leukemia in February 2006, according to the Facebook event. After going into remission, her cancer returned this year, forcing Murray to withdraw from school.
Fletcher student Marcos Gonzalez has been a bone marrow donor and is involved in the registration drive.
"I went through the donation process, not just the testing process. My donation involved one week of preparation leading up to an afternoon donation of blood. You are never asked to donate unless you've been specifically identified as the best match for somebody whose life is in balance," Gonzalez said in a statement on the event page.
