Brian Drake, a College senior and Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity brother, survived a cancer that fatally affects 1 in 25,000 males every year.
But no one ever talks about it. The InterFraternity Council is hoping to change that.
On Tuesday, the IFC presented the Penn Cancer Center and University President Judith Rodin with a $2,000 check at the Penn Tower.
Medical officials in attendance stressed the importance of cancer prevention.
"Most men in this country don't examine their testicles and they should," Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania oncologist David Vaughn said. "When it's caught early, it's 100 percent curable."
Most of the money was raised during the annual Greek Week early last month -- at a coffee house, basketball tournament and a philanthropy party, according to College senior Alex Ropper, the IFC vice president of community service.
The Panhellenic Council's Rena Rowan Ribbon Run to benefit the Rena Rowan Breast Cancer Center motivated Panhel's male counterpart.
"Girls were doing women," said IFC Executive Vice President Lee Gerson, a College senior and Alpha Epsilon Pi brother. "We are doing male cancer."
Although the IFC and the Penn Cancer Center have not discussed specifics, the money will go primarily toward patients with testicular and prostate cancer.
Testicular cancer "is the most common cancer in men aged 15-35, and so that's clearly the age range of undergraduate students and subsequent years," Vaughn said. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death.
The IFC hopes to raise cancer awareness among male Penn students.
"In addition to fundraising, [the IFC] distributed information to fraternity members," Ropper said.
The IFC recently created an "Agenda for Excellence," which revisits the issues in the 21st Century Plan released in 1996, putting forth a vision for the Greek system's direction. The plan outlines a "partnership with the Penn Cancer Center for the purposes of fundraising and community service."
Margaret Lazar, director of patient and family services at the Penn Cancer Center hopes "this is a beginning of a long-term relationship."
After the donation was made, Ginsburg presented the IFC with a plaque for their "spirit and dedication."
