 "Photo: Alexandra Churchill")
A crowd of students pedals vigorously to the loud beat of workout music on stationary bicycles in the Whittemore Center.
“If you notice the T-shirts we’re wearing, they say ‘BFL’ which stands for ‘Brothers for Life,’” smiled junior and Pi Kappa Alpha brother Scott Giacalone, cycling on a stationary bicycle. “Its all for Taylor.”
Pi Kappa Alpha lost a brother to leukemia last year. Taylor Thompson Trudeau, 22, graduated with the class of 2008 with a political science degree. Just a few months after, he lost his yearlong battle with leukemia on August 17, 2008 at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas where he was being treated.
Described by a fellow Pike brother in a press release as “a beloved brother in Pike whose courage and perseverance is admired by everyone who knew him as he never gave up hope and never stopped fighting,” Trudeau and his fight was the inspiration for the Cycle for Life fundraiser.
In Trudeau’s memory and honor, students, friends, and alumni cycled for Pi Kappa Alpha’s second annual Taylor Trudeau Cycle for Life event, which raises money for leukemia research and care.
Saturday, there were over 20 stationary bicycles in the Whitt’s Studio I. The goal was to keep at least 10 of these stationary bicycles in constant motion for 12 consecutive hours. Participants could sign up to cycle for increments of 30-minutes at $10 per increment. All proceeds were to be donated to the MDMS Leukemia Research Center and any outside donations were appreciated.
The Cycle for Life fundraiser raised $4,000 last year and by Saturday evening, the Pike brothers had managed to raise well over that amount, roughly $6,500, while still expecting numerous donations in the mail.
“We’re extremely pleased with the turnout,” said Roland Dupuis, junior and Pike brother who helped coordinate the event. “Everyone’s been great.”
Even Durham’s local Village Pizza donated 15 pizzas and six platters of subs and wraps to the event.
Those who came to the event crowded around to recall some of their best memories of Trudeau. His parents, John and Leslie Trudeau, were also in attendance as they traveled from their home in Florida to participate in the event. They told stories of his childhood; growing up in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin with his older brother, Prescott. Leslie Trudeau said he had a passion for aviation, was a certified solo pilot in high school, and was above all else, a World War II history buff.
“He knew more than the teachers!” said Leslie Trudeau. “Seriously!”
Trudeau came to the University of New Hampshire as a freshman in the fall of 2004 and promptly found a home in the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house.
“He was a timid, shy kid when he came to school but once he hit the brotherhood, the fraternity completely changed him,” said Imran Haider, a pledge brother and best friend to Trudeau. “He was the kind of kid that really believed in what he was doing. He was very adamant about values. He was a sergeant-at-arms in the brotherhood and he took his job seriously.”
Trudeau was active in the student community as a member of Student Senate and Interfraternity Council as well as holding the position of sergeant-at-arms in the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity where, according to Haider, he “kept order.”
His story proves to be an inspiration to the fraternity brothers he left behind.
“I never met Taylor, but through I feel like I’ve come to know him better,” said Dupuis.
Kenn Rasys, a sophomore majoring in Russian studies, rushed Pike the semester after Trudeau’s graduation, but nonetheless, feels the presence of his former brother permeate the fraternity.
“This is a great thing we’re doing, trying to keep his memory alive,” said Rasys.
Giacalone said Trudeau loved the fraternity
“Taylor’s the kind of kid who would have kept fighting, kept trying and Pike meant a lot to him,” said Giacalone.
A Facebook page made in Trudeau’s honor, “Taylor Trudeau teaches cancer a lesson it will never forget,” now stands as a memorial base to friends and family. According to Trudeau’s father, John, Taylor’s persevering strength permeates some of his last standing words, “Unfortunately I have been diagnosed with Leukemia. The bad news is that Leukemia has never faced the likes of me.”
In the true character of Trudeau, as a World War II buff, he reworded a quote by the former Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s 1940 speech, which now stands on his Facebook page for all to read.
"We shall not flag or fail,” the quote reads. “We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in the liver, we shall fight on the hospital bed and chairs, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in my stomach, we shall defend my body, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight in the bone marrow, we shall fight on the kidneys, we shall fight in the white blood cells and in the red ones, we shall fight in the heart; we shall never surrender."
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