Did you know that March was Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month?  On Saturday, March 7, the Foundation did its part to advance awareness by sponsoring Conversations about Colorectal Cancer at the Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.  At this event, colorectal cancer patients and their families were invited to network with other patients while learning about new treatments, clinical trials and survivorship.  The program was chaired by Dr. Mary Mulcahy, a Northwestern Medicine oncologist and member of the Comprehensive Cancer Center.  It was free and open to the public.  

 Getting the word out about prevention is critical to saving lives.  The second leading cause of cancer deaths for both women and men in America is colorectal cancer according to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC). Healthcare experts agree that this is largely due to a lack of public awareness about prevention. With regular screenings, colorectal cancer can be detected at an early or even precancerous stage, making it treatable and even preventable. 

On Saturday, April 11 at the Standard Club, students from four universities competed against each other through a live presentation focusing on "Cap the Kennedy"- a project proposed by Fifield Companies in an effort to establish a more functional connection from Chicago's West Loop neighborhood to the downtown Loop/Central Business District. The Roosevelt team, comprised of five graduate students in real estate, was awarded first place and a $5,000 scholarship, sponsored by Fifield Companies, for the school.  The team's proposal titled The Landing, is a mixed use, entertainment, commercial and tech incubator concept. The team presented a thoughtful and well-planned elevated pedestrian area that includes parks and green space, restaurants and retail, entertainment venues, a tech incubator/school as well as a four-seasons glass enclosure for year round enjoyment, all to better serve the surrounding community.

The student teams acted as individual development companies responding to a Request for Proposal from Fifield to joint venture and execute the proposed "Cap the Kennedy" project. While several iterations of Fifield's plans have reached the public domain previously, submitting teams were expected to embellish upon the proposed six-block cap by incorporating their own vision for the project.  A panel of distinguished judges, including: Steve Fifield, Chairman of Fifield, Randy Fifield, Vice Chairman of Fifield, Mike Laube, Principal of Laube Companies, and Alan Schachtman, Executive VP of Fifield awarded Roosevelt University, for the third time in a row, with the best overall plan and the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign with honorable mentions.

"The students of Roosevelt University proposed the most economically viable and most complementary plan to the unique uses of the surrounding site," says Randy Fifield, Vice Chairman of Fifield. 

The initiative was designed to provide students with a hands-on opportunity to apply what they are learning in their university courses to the real working world of real estate. Through the challenge, students had the opportunity work along side qualified mentors and industry leaders as they were tasked with real projects on the forefront of Chicago real estate.