The Big Ten Conference is engaging in a friendly competition to see which university can donate the most blood in response to a national blood supply shortage. With the efforts of Abbott, a health company, over 12,000 lives have been saved. USC is currently 17 out of the 18 schools on the leaderboard. 

During the weekly student health briefing, Chief Campus Health Officer Dr. Sarah Van Orman reminded attendees of the benefits of the blood drive. 

“The campus that has the most donors actually wins a million dollars, which is amazing, even if we do not win the prize,” Van Orman said. “I would love to see USC win the prize, but just to encourage people [to give] blood is a wonderful thing to do anyway.”

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The aforementioned prize is reserved for health initiatives of the university with the highest points by Dec. 6. In addition to this, each person who donates blood will receive a free one-month subscription to B1G+ — a video streaming service for the Big Ten — and a chance to win two tickets and a trip to the 2024 Big Ten Football Championship Game. 

Khalifa Alfzari, a freshman majoring in biological sciences with an emphasis in biotechnology, said the Big Ten organizing this competition could impact raising awareness of the shortage.

“College football is a huge thing here, especially at USC,” Alfzari said. “Not a lot of people really search or look into [donating blood], so by using football as a platform, people could further their understanding and start supporting such an important cause. And in my opinion, USC, being one of the biggest schools in [Los Angeles] and being a part of the Big Ten, this is a great way for them to use their platform.”

Abbott is a global leader in blood testing and heavily emphasizes the importance of donating blood. By promoting competition between Big Ten schools, the company hopes to reduce the blood supply shortage, since supply fell 25% between July and August, according to the Red Cross. 

Finn Burns, a freshman majoring in electrical and computer engineering, said that USC and Abbott’s initiative is important. 

“[The competition] fosters a spirit of healthy rivalry between the Big Ten schools while contributing to a crucial cause,” Burns said. “Blood drives are essential for maintaining an adequate supply of blood in the blood economy, and involving universities can significantly boost donor numbers.”

Blood types in heavy demand are O-positive and O-negative, as they can be used for transfusions in a majority of patients. However, O-negative, the only universal donor blood type, is possessed by  6.6% of the population. 

“It was very eye opening to see how different blood types can only donate with other specific blood types,” Alfzari said. “When you actually go through the experience, it becomes sort of a routine. You tend to do it more and more often. It becomes, like, something you always think about and tend to support. Once you do it, you can never go back.”

The competition extends beyond students and the USC campus in an effort to increase the amount of donors. According to Van Orman, anyone can donate blood on behalf of USC anywhere in the world as long as they submit the proper information to the Big Ten website. 

Van Orman pointed out that USC is near the lower end of the leaderboard for donations and is considering actions to increase blood donations on campus. 

Student Health hopes to hold multiple donation drives on campus before the Dec. 6 deadline, Van Orman said. The next one will be Nov. 6.