By Kim Friel
Student Life Editor
This upcoming Sunday, the sisters of Alpha Omicron Pi will host the 3rd Annual Queen of the Roses 5K Walk/Run. The event will take place at Wilmer Park and registration begins at 10:00 a.m.
The Queen of the Roses’ purpose is to honor late sister Jasmine Queen. Jasmine passed away from an unexpedected pulmonary embolism just weeks before returning to Washington College for her junior year. Jasmine was majoring in business as a member of the class of 2010, a member of the softball team and the Sisters of Cleopatra, and was just initiated into Alpha Omicron Pi the spring prior.
Jasmine was undoubtedly an influential pledge sister to her pledge class, who go by the name “TNT,” and was always there to keep the group of girls laughing through all times. She exemplified what it is to be a sister of Alpha Omicron Pi and suddenly loosing her has been a surreal experience for the sisters.
In order to celebrate the life of Jasmine, the sorority started up the Queen of the Roses 5K the fall semester they returned to campus without Jasmine. In only two years, AOTT has reached their goal in raising enough money to commemorate a scholarship here at WC in Jasmine’s name. This year and in future years, the sisters will put all proceeds from the event towards Jasmine’s scholarship and their philanthropy, juvenile arthritis.
This year’s event will be an emotional day as the class of 2011 is the last class at WC who have had the pleasure to know Jasmine as a classmate, a teammate, and a sister. The sisters of Alpha Omicron Pi ask for your support in signing up for the 5K so this special day can be celebrated among all who have been part of Jasmine’s life and bring the whole WC community together. The cost for students is $8 and the price for non-students is $15 up until race day when the cost will be $20. Participants may register in the dining hall until race day or register online by visiting www.trisportsevents.com. All those signed up will receive a free Queen of the Roses t-shirt on race day.
The sisters of Alpha Omicron Pi would like to gratefully thank Beth Anne Langrell for her support and comfort in their loss throughout the years, Jasmine’s friends and family from Bowie, MD for always keeping in touch and being a constant reminder of Jasmine, their families for helping out the day of the event, all the sponsors who were able to make the event possible, and finally a thanks in advance to all participants.