By RORY MOORE
Tiger Media Network
Fort Hays State University’s Sigma Chi fraternity hosted a White Rose Ceremony at the FHSU Union Quad Steps on Monday to honor those impacted by cancer. Speakers shared their experiences battling or knowing someone with the disease, and attendees wrote victims’ names on white roses before gluing them onto a wooden cross.
Student Affairs VP Joey Linn begins the ceremony by sharing his experience battling Cancer. 
The White Rose Ceremony, open to the public, allowed attendees to write the name of someone affected by Cancer on a rose and glue them onto a cross. 
Attendees wrote the names of friends, family and loved ones impacted by Cancer. 
One dollar per rose was donated to Sigma Chi Philanthropy to be transferred to the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. 
Sigma Chi president Roberto Apodaca places a rose on the cross. 
Super glue is applied to a rose. 
Mahala Ellen Gregg chats with Andrew Young while honoring her late neighbor. 
The cross lays on the FHSU Union Quad.
Sigma Chi president Roberto Apodaca led the event to bring people of all communities together for a shared cause.
“Everybody’s had a loved one, family member, or friend impacted by cancer in one way or another,” he said. “This brings us closer where we can all have a chance to put their name on that cross so they can be remembered for what they did and if they survived. Everybody’s united, not just Greek Life, but everybody in the Hays community to come together, put that name on there, and show their appreciation for them.”
Each attendee who glued a rose onto the cross gave one dollar to the fraternity’s philanthropy, which will transfer the funds to the Huntsman Cancer Foundation.
“My grandparents both had cancer,” Apodaca said. “They beat it, but my cousin is fighting it and she’s still going two rounds. My uncle passed away from cancer. So, it’s awesome on a different type of level to honor my family members, and it’s great for this community.”
The ceremony had an emotional impact on all who attended, and Student Affairs Vice President Joey Linn felt it as a cancer survivor.
“A lot of things go through your head when you’re diagnosed with cancer,” he said. “What am I going to tell my wife and three daughters at home? Those types of things. The good news was they caught it early, and I got referred to a doctor at the Cancer Center at KU Med. I had surgery, got it removed, and have been great ever since.”
Linn has lived cancer-free since 2019 and shares a lesson he learned from the experience with others.
“You could feel sorry for yourself when you get the news,” he said. “When you sit in the lobby and look at these 5-year-old and 7-year-olds who are fighting cancer, all of a sudden, you don’t feel sorry for yourself. I’ve lived 50+ years and work at a great university, and it’s not fair to those young kids to be diagnosed at such an early age. You stop feeling sorry for yourself real quick, and you start thinking about others who are going through this horrible disease.”
Mahala Ellen Gregg, a psychology major, placed a rose on the cross in honor of her friend who passed away from cancer.
“She was my neighbor and she had breast cancer three times,” she said. “She died after the third time about three years ago. We were really close, and sometimes I would help her with her garden.”
Gregg thinks her white rose keeps her friend’s memory alive and respects those who fought the disease.
“It’s important to commemorate people who have died from cancer and to remember them,” she said. “They fought so hard during their journey, and it’s a way to respect them for their battle.”