UA Fraternity Hosting Campus Awareness Event for Wheelchair Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Pi Kappa Phi fraternity at The University of Alabama is hosting “Push Alabama-Campaign for Awareness” Friday, April 16, on the Quad from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. to raise awareness on campus about wheelchair athletics.

Athletes from UA’s Wheelchair Athletics program and the 2010 national champion UA Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team will be at the event along with Pi Kappa Phi fraternity members.

The wheelchair basketball teams will show wheelchairs and athletic training chairs that they use for conditioning, basketball, tennis, track and field, and kayaking.

UA student Phillip Dean, a member of Pi Kappa Phi, says they hope to bring together different groups of students on campus. “We are going to have a hands-on experience.  Individuals who want to participate and gain a new perspective can try sitting in wheelchairs. We will also be able to converse one-on-one with each other,” he said.

Pi Kappa Phi plans to donate a wheelchair-friendly exercise machine, NuStep, to the Student Recreation Center and the UA Wheelchair Athletics program, Dean adds.