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NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale community once again turned out in droves Tuesday to support the Yale athletic department's efforts to save lives in memory of women's ice hockey player
Mandi Schwartz '10 (Wilcox, Sask.) (1988-2011). The Bulldogs added 517 people to the NMDP Registry? at their 17th annual Mandi Schwartz Marrow Donor Registration Drive.
The Mandi Schwartz Marrow Donor Registration Drive at Yale, which is part of the nationwide "Get in the Game" campaign for NMDP?, offers multiple ways for people to register for the chance to become a life-saving marrow donor. Donors who could help save lives are located through testing that consists of simple cheek swabs.
This year's Yale drive is believed to be the largest Get in the Game drive in the nation so far in 2025. Yale's 17 record-setting drives have now added more than 10,000 potential donors to the NMDP Registry?, and at least 102 life-saving donor matches for patients in need have been located through the Bulldogs' efforts. That is more donor matches than any other school in the nation.
The "Get in the Game" program started at Villanova in 1992 under the guidance of head football coach Andy Talley. The program involves college athletic teams organizing drives on their campuses. Talley has since partnered with NMDP? to take his efforts to the national level. The "Get in the Game" program now includes more than 250 partnered schools.
Larry Ciotti, a long-time assistant football coach at Yale, is a friend of Talley's and brought the idea to Yale in 2008-09.
Yale has held drives ever since Mandi was first diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in December of 2008. Yale's drives were led by the football team and women's ice hockey team each of the first two years. In 2011, the field hockey team began assisting. In 2018 the men's soccer team joined these efforts. In 2022 the Yale volleyball team joined, and in 2023 the men's and women's swimming and diving teams joined. This year, the gymnastics team and the men's ice hockey team joined. Members of these teams helped spread the word about the need for donors to their classmates, friends and relatives. They also volunteered to help on Drive Day.
With dozens of volunteers spreading out across campus to encourage registrations, there was a steady stream of people signing up throughout the day at Beinecke Plaza – and Steep Café, a new second location this year. With two members of the Yale gymnastics team as the first swabbers, the drive got underway at 10:00 a.m. and continued until past 5:00 p.m. At various points throughout the day, visits from Yale mascots Boola and
Handsome Dan – along with a visit from Heidi the Yale Public Safety service dog and her canine friend Elvy – added to the festive atmosphere. Local television stations WFSB and WTNH covered the event.
To join the NMDP Registry?, an individual must be between the ages of 18 and 40, meet certain health guidelines and be willing to donate to any patient in need. The donor test consists of simple cheek swabs and takes approximately 15 minutes.
