Sigma Theta Chi Benefit Ball Honors a Brother

Sigma Theta Chi is hosting a fundraiser ball to benefit Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The cause hits close to home for the brothers of Chi, as one of their newest fraternity brothers, Yuseef Morton, from Roselle, has defeated the disease and continues to inspire others to fight adversity, with his story. 

The event will be held on the sixth floor of Kean’s STEM Building on Tuesday, May 2, at 6:45 p.m.

“You could tell the kind of person Yuseef was when he first came out for this fraternity,” said Jorgo Kacifa, graduating president of Chi. “He persevered through this tough time with his disease. He is the kind of person, once you give him a challenge, he’s always going to try to overcome it. I’m really proud of him and happy we are doing this in his honor.”

Morton’s toughest part of battling Hodgkin’s Lymphoma was the struggle of chemotherapy and the side effects that come with it.

“Going through chemo, for about five or six hours you lose taste in your mouth, so you can’t really taste anything.” said Morton. “I gained a lot of weight, I went from 150 pounds to 190 pounds, but I still tried to exercise daily so it wouldn’t beat me down.”

Morton was diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin's Lymphoma at 21 years old and, at 26, is now cancer free.

“For those who weren’t able to live, it hurts,” said Morton. “As a survivor, all you can do is be thankful and keep praying that we find a cure, and it does not come back.”

He tries to motivate people who are going through similar situations by telling his story and participating in these fundraising events.

“I don’t want cancer to break anybody. I know it is a deadly disease,” said Morton. “Talking about it and having the opportunity to go to this event means a lot. There are some kids out there going through cancer, and they need these donations to help find the cure to put an end to it.”

All proceeds from the ball will go to the Mario Lemieux Foundation which specializes in cancer research. At the event, there will be music and catered food from Lassoni Ristorante in North Arlington, which is owned by the family of one of the Chi brothers. Morton will also share his personal story, and videos from the Mario Lemieux Foundation will be featured.

In addition to supporting one of his fraternity brothers, Chi president-elect Evan Pobuta has his own reasons for raising money to fight Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He lost his grandmother and great-grandmother to the disease.

“My mother, who works for Kean University, is the advisor for the event,” said Pobuta, a junior communication major. “I know it means a lot to her. Obviously, she would support any cause we do, but this is more personal for both of us.”

Tickets for the ball are $5 with valid Kean ID; $7 for the general public, and can be purchased at the Kean Stage Box Office, located in Wilkins Theatre, 1000 Morris Ave. in Union. For more information, contact Evan Pobuta at pobutae@kean.edu.