When Dr. Sheila Schindler-Ivens was a senior at Marquette in 1989, she and other physical therapy students started the inaugural Marquette Challenge.
Thirty-five years later, Schindler-Ivens calls the challenge the “ultimate servant leadership opportunity for students.”
“Students shed blood, sweat, and tears for a profession that’s done nothing for them yet,” says Schindler-Ivens, associate professor of physical therapy in the College of Health Sciences. “They haven’t received a paycheck as a physical therapist. But still, they believe in their future and the profession’s future. So, they do the work, and they invite others to do it, too. Together, they make us all better.”
The challenge is an annual fundraising effort for the Foundation for Physical Therapy Research and has since spread to physical therapy programs across the nation.
Dr. Jacob Capin, assistant professor and Marquette Challenge faculty advisor, says he discovered Marquette because of the challenge while he was a student at the University of Delaware, even receiving a scholarship supported by the challenge.
He says the challenge spreads awareness of the importance of physical therapy research and helps clinician-scientists educate the next generation of servant leaders.
“The Marquette Challenge puts Marquette University in the national spotlight for physical therapy and affords our students tremendous professional development opportunities, including interning at the Foundation for Physical Therapy Research and engaging in our fundraising efforts for the challenge,” Capin says. “It is a true game-changer.”
Marquette Challenge student coordinators Maddie Semmer and Maggie Scanlon say they both got involved in the challenge to ensure the lasting impact of research was passed on to future students.
“We believe physical therapy research is a growing field and is the backbone of our future profession as it emphasizes evidenced-based case,” they say. “We have learned the value of having a large community of support and value those who have supported the Marquette Challenge throughout the years.”
Semmer, Scanlon and other physical therapy students will host a silent auction at City Lights Brewing Co. on Saturday, Sept. 21, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., to raise money for the challenge. For more information and to register, click here.
