Sorority Urged Members to Lie in Blood Drive
 

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Members of a sorority were urged to lie about their health to qualify as donors in a competitive blood drive at the University of Missouri-Columbia (search), a school that once set a world record for blood collection.

In an e-mail sent last Tuesday to about 170 members of Gamma Phi Beta (search), Christie Key, the chapter's blood donation coordinator, wrote: "I dont care if you got a tattoo last week LIE. I dont care if you have a cold. Suck it up. We all do. LIE. Recent peircings? LIE."

The sending of the e-mail was first reported Sunday by the Columbia Missourian and the Columbia Daily Tribune.

Sororities and fraternities conducted the competitive blood drive last Wednesday and Thursday. It is a campus tradition that in 1999 took in 3,156 units of blood — enough to earn recognition from the Guinness Book of Records as the largest single-site, single-day blood collection.

Jim Williams, a spokesman for the American Red Cross, said the organization discourages any actions that could jeopardize the blood supply, including donations from those who are sick or recently received tattoos or piercings.

"We have emphasized from day one it is not necessary for each girl to donate, so it is a waste," Williams said Monday.

About 3,300 units of blood were collected at the Missouri event.

In her e-mail, Key wrote: "We're not messing around. Punishment for not giving blood is going to be quite severe."

Chris Linder, a law student who serves as the Gamma Phi Beta chapter's adviser, said the e-mail was "completely inappropriate and a huge mistake."

Key declined to comment Monday and referred questions to Gamma Phi Beta's chapter president, who did not immediately return a call.

Cathy Scroggs, a campus vice chancellor, said the university had begun an investigation.

"I would characterize it at this time as one student that is overzealous," Scroggs said. "But we have heard that people have felt pressured to donate blood in the past, and this certainly has caused us to want to take a look at the whole process."

Oh please. It was just an overexcited event coordinator. Do you seriously think someone is going to donate blood if they're squeamish over needles, have been ill, etc.? And if a member is going to allow herself to be persuaded to so by an EMAIL, then there are much larger problems....

This reminds me of a bad after-school special.

This is also posted in Risk Management...sorry...didn't see it before.

co sign

This is the action of one sister, who obviously made a mistake, and I can only hope that her chapter will take action privately.

U'know, to prevent that, when we gave spirit points for blood donation during Greek Week, groups got points for members attempting and being rejected.

That's exactly what I was going to say...there are people who don't know they have low iron in their blood until they go in to donate. It's always a tossup when I go whether my blood will be "acceptable" - and I've never had anything pierced. Additionally, if you're below a certain weight you can't donate - another thing you might not know till you get there. When I was in high school our gym teacher gave us points for attempting to donate, whether we were successful or not.

It's going to be real hard for any action to be private in this case. Not sure about the rest of you, but it even made the Seattle paper....

This is THAT big of a deal?
I'm not advocating what she did, I think it was stupid...people could die from tainted blood donation. But I will say that a lot of chapters on campus stress that you can give and insist they use the "Do Not Use This Blood" sticker- if anyone reads the article in the Missourian, that's what the GPhi blood coordinator was getting at. She wanted them to lie, and then tell the Red Cross not to use the blood.
Not much better, but different than what the above article leads you to think.

This is a good example of why my house and many others tell you to donate if you can, and refer 4 friends- that way if you are sick or get deferred, there is someone to replace you.

You're right that's not much better; but, I still don't agree with that concept. I don't think it's appropriate to waste the time and supplies of the American Red Cross employees by lying one's way onto the table and then saying "Oh, by the way, don't use that blood." :eek:

Here in San Diego, the American Red Cross has reported in recent times that they have a dangerously low blood supply. It just seems very wrong to "get their hopes up" about how many students are donating only to have a percentage of them insist that their blood not be used. Come on! This blood is meant to save people's lives!! Why does it have to be a "competition"?

I like the previously mentioned suggestion of having people get credit for at least attempting to donate.

.....Kelly :)

It was just mentioned here in Nashville, too. But, at least they called it "Gamma Beta Phi." lol

Can Someone Say PSYCHO?
Is it really THAT serious. Did they get like a gift basket for most blood or something? I mean dang.

What if some of the more naive members actually did feel "told", and gave tainted blood. YES they check it, but there are some who slip the cracks. This is a reach, I know.
But she was just going a wee-bit looney.

I was once told that we sell blood over seas and that can contribute to shortages.

Personally, the way I see it, being a nursing major, it's a big deal. A person should not lie and say they can donate blood. It's not safe and their blood can cause serious problems and even death. If you know you cannot donate blood due to a recent tattoo or peircing, try getting someone who can donate to go in your place. Also, many people do not know how long you have to wait once getting a new tattoo or peircing, you have to wait a whole year. I also find it not so nice to give blood and then tell the nurse that they can't use it due to an issue. If just puts a damper on the nurse and the rest of the employees at Red Cross. Those nurses go home everyday after a blood drive knowing how many pints of blood that was taken and know how many lives that saves but if they have so many people saying that you can't use their blood, just puts a huge damper on their day. If you know you cannot give blood for sure, don't lie and do so instead bring someone who can in your place.

I Concur WholeHeartedly

But I wonder, will she be penalized for this?

I don't think they can penalize her for this. But what she did was wrong and hopefully by this media coverage she will realize what she did was wrong and should make a comment about her actions along w/an apology. Thats only my opinion tho on what she should do.

I have a total phobia about needles. If someone told me that I had to donate blood, (unless it was for a specific use, i.e. a close friend or relative was in an accident), I would tell them to go stick themselves! I'm all for sorority spirit and for friendly competition amongst the houses, but I don't think that people who don't want to give blood, or who know their blood may be unsafe are going to be bullied into it.

FYI, on our campus, we were told to give blood or to find someone to give for you. Also, since the Blood Drive was 60 days long and you can donate every 57 days, there were quite a few of us who donated on the first and last days. Those who gave twice (or raised twice our per capita goal for charity) were called "Double Dippers" - a high honor in my chapter.

Frankly, I think the writer was just overly exurberant - under NO circumstance should anyone lie when it comes to medical conditions!

Does anyone know the reasoning behind no tattoos/piercings? I realize that they can spread bloodborne diseases, but it is not like those diseases magically go away in a year.

that's what i was wondering....


we also had one of these fundraisers/blood drives too. The school REALLY wanted to break the record for some reason. We didn't even come close.
A lot of my girls are underweight. But that didn't stop one of them. She gave half a pint instead of the full thing. Others were just iron deficient.

i somehow always end up really sick during blood drives.

When a person receives a tattoo or has an ear or body part pierced, there is an opportunity to come into contact with someone else's blood. This puts the recipient of the tattoo or piercing at risk of contracting a transmissible disease. For this reason, both FDA and American Red Cross regulations require deferral of their blood donation for 12 months following the incident

http://arkabahce.ada.net.tr/eskiweb/kan/mail4.html

Some diseases cannot be detected by current testing measures if the person was recently infected. If the disease or virus has a year to incubate, the person either becomes symptomatic (shows signs of the infection) or blood tests can detect it.

I'm sure there's a really obvious reason for this, but why would someone give blood and then immediately say not to use it? What's the point? Here's some of my blood, but you can't do anything with it...seems like that person might as well have kept it for the only person that could use it (themself). As for the one year thing...I know that they test blood before they donate it to new patients, but some diseases (like HIV/AIDS) can take up to 6 months to appear on tests. So they probably just want a really liberal window to ensure that life threatening diseases don't get inaverdently passed on to other people.

With the various forms of hepatitis becoming some of the fastest spreading diseases in the country, I would imagine that the Blood Banks are more worried about that. Hep C, even when dried, is active for up to 7 days afterwards.

The blood is also divided into so many sub-uses, and some of the parts of the blood doesn't show a disease as well as others. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong - Please! - but I think that for some parts (I'm thinking plasma in particular), the disease factor isn't as big a deal.

For those who are sqeamish, I would encourage you to read Journey, the biography of Robert Massie, who ran for lt. governor of Massachusetts several years ago. He is a hemopheliac, and the look into his life changed my view on giving blood forever! I am proud to say that I'm in the Quart Club!!

lol, honeychile! I am beyond squeamish. In fact, I am 28 and have only had blood drawn (at the doctor's office) twice in my whole life. The last time I had a shot was 10 years ago, and I passed out before I could walk out of the room. The whole idea of giving blood makes my head spin... in fact, I don't know how I've made it through reading this thread!! I have been known to avoid entire sections of the campus where blood drives are being held, just so no one will ask me to donate. I'm not proud of it...I wish I weren't like this. But it is a total phobia.

*shudder* I think I need to go lie down now!

I shudder to think what one of my sisters, a graduating nursing major, would think if she saw this!

I think the girl who sent the e-mail just made an honest mistake. I know competitiveness during Greek Week, Homecoming, etc. at some schools is crazy, including my own. A simple apology should suffice, not only to the Red Cross, but to her chapter as well. And as a Gamma Phi sister, I hope this doesn't result in anything too serious for the girl who sent the e-mail.

Because your house gets points if you're on time and donate- therefore you could win Greek Week.

I guess I just meant in general why would that option even be available. Although I guess it makes sense that someone could deny the use of their blood within some period of time after donation. But seriously that's lame, I don't approve. Mmkay that's all I have to say about that I suppose.

It's for in situations like this - I chaired a blood drive in high school. That way people don't have to make up an excuse not to donate but the supply won't be tainted. People feel very pressured to donate but may not want to admit that they've had sex with a man who's had sex with other men since 1987, so this ensures that they won't be publicly humiliated.

I would just go to a homeless shelter and offer everyone 10 bucks.

-Rudey
--no needles for me, blood for you.

Can't they just say it's for some other reason such as they've within last 12 months travelled to a country that would preclude them from being able to give blood?

I think the people in your sorority or fraternity would know that was not the case... you can't just be like, "OH remember, I went to *foreign country*!" if you didn't.

I'm anemic and underweight, so I've never been able to give blood. I get really sick every time I have to take blood tests when I go to the doctor.... just the thought makes me want to pass out!

Wow, I sound like such a whiner! :) Anyway, in college, I was part of a PR project called "Generation Donation." I worked with a team of other students and the local blood bank to bring blood drives to campus and promote awareness of the good you can do by donating... so if I can't donate, at least I can feel good knowing I helped other people to contribute!

And excuse me now while I go pass out--- ick! needles!

That email was just so wrong.

It makes no sense to me to have people lie, so you can win Greek Week or any competition, and then tell them that you can't use my blood.


I used to give blood and was 2 pints away from the quart club, but because I am severly anemic I am disqualified from giving blood. My iron levels will never be at a healthy enough level for blood donation.

When the blood drive comes to town I volunteer to help in any way that I can. That is my "donation" .

the way the AP presented it (which is not all that dimensional, but thats how i got the info--posted on the AIM homepage this morning) does not seem like an "honest mistake"! and greek week my ass! youre putting someone's life in danger. how will that look for that chapter when next rush comes around..."you girls are the liars so you could give blood." i mean there are always blood drives, if not at school, but the local blood center, and if youre really about giving back, it wouldnt be for some freakin points.

can i express my disgust for this clause existing? i mean were ALL at risk for sharing something that is harmful to the next person, homosexual, bisexual or straight. has this cause any issues in your fraternities? or on campus? (curiousity's sake)

The blood drive at our school is like scary competitive, it's one of the things that counts for the most points. It's usually hard to win greek week or even place if you don't win in blood or get 2nd or 3rd place. I am not saying that what this girl said is ok, I'm just trying to maybe explain why she figured saying all this stuff was ok.

In my house we are required to give blood and take people with us in case we get deffered, and if we don't we're supposed to get our friends to donate anyway. Needless to say, it's not the easiest thing in the world to find people willing to go do this since it's always so crowded it usually takes a good hour or more to get done. Who knows.

:rolleyes:

I don't have a phobia about needles, but I know for a fact that I CANNOT donate blood. Being a diabetic (hence the no phobia of needles, lol) I am on the list of non-suitable donors.
So yeah, if anyone of my sisters sent me an email like that, then she would get an earful from me.
I wonder if she sent this out after some of her sisters had told her that they would not or could not donate blood?

I understand the whole sorority spirit thing, but you can't mandate that all of your members give blood. It's just wrong!! I think it's commendable for all of you who have done so, but I never have donated blood, and don't think I ever will, because I'm so phobic when it comes to needles. Hell, I passed out getting a flu shot this year!

My question is, what happens in your highly competitive blood drive chapters if you don't donate, nor get someone to replace you?

Official Press Release
 

Since most of you may not have seen this...........

University of Missouri Blood Drive Press Release( 4/12/2004 )
SORORITY E-MAIL WAS A MISCOMMUNICATION AND NOT APPROVED BY SORORITY OFFICERS

The University of Missouri chapter of Gamma Phi Beta regrets the e-mail sent regarding mandatory participation in a campus-wide blood drive and apologizes to the community, the Red Cross, and campus. The email was sent to encourage members to donate blood for the blood drive. This e-mail was sent without the consent or approval of any chapter officer and is not in accordance with the values of Gamma Phi Beta International Sorority.

Gamma Phi Beta Sorority does not condone misleading health officials or pressuring sisters into donating blood. This was in no way endorsed by the chapter leadership and was the action of one individual. This misunderstanding was immediately clarified internally. No chapter members were reprimanded for not participating in the blood drive.

Chapter leadership supported the campus efforts for the blood drive. Educating members about health risks and making smart choices is also a priority. The chapter at the University of Missouri takes pride in being a part of one of the largest blood donating communities.

The mission of the organization is to foster a nurturing environment that provides women the opportunity to achieve their potential through life-long commitment to intellectual growth, individual worth, and service to humanity.

Info: Rebecca Beardslee, director of communications at Gamma Phi Beta’s International Headquarters, 303.799.1874, ext. 322 or rbeardslee@gammaphibeta.org.