When it came time to name his youth fitness initiative, it’s no surprise that Tarik Kitson ’08 settled upon Active Plus, as “active plus” aptly describes his life.
“I have learned that 24 hours is not much time,” says Kitson, whose day often ends as the morning hours begin.
Up at 6.m. and off to his job at a health-care administrator at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, Kitson also finds the hours necessary to co-direct Active Plus, a nonprofit organization with an expanding set of programs to combat youth obesity.
Kitson and other Active Plus volunteers go into New York City schools that have cut sports teams and physical education programs and work with young people. They coach them in sports and also mentor them on diet and on study skills.
“Active plus serves as a safe outlet for children where they learn the importance of responsibility, teamwork, accountability and other fundamentals tied to athletics,” Kitson says. “It gives many of our kids a purpose and plays a tremendous role on academics and conduct improvement. ”
Kitson and Miguel Roxas, an Active Plus co-founder who also Memorial Sloan-Kettering, fund these activities with a portion of the entrance fees charged adults playing in basketball leagues organized through New York City hospitals by Active Plus.
Kitson continues to play basketball, maintaining the skills that helped him become a four-year starter at Geneseo, playing in 98 games during his career, scoring 934 points and gathering 563 rebounds.
A native of Manhattan who moved to Greensboro, N.C., when he was 8 years old, Kitson chose Geneseo because of its reputation for solid academics and athletics. He became an anthropology major with a minor in history, his development significantly influenced by two courses: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology taught by retired Dr. Rose-Marie Chierici and the Introduction to African-American History with Dr. Emilye Crosby.
Early on he also began to develop a particular interest in health care and health care policy, and during the summer after his sophomore year in 2006 he participated in an Urban Fellows program run by the University of Rochester.
One of his assignments was to conduct a health care survey in coordination with a local Rochester doctor’s office and present his findings at Rochester’s City Hall. He continued to work with Rochester government leaders and community leaders.
“Rochester was a second home for me throughout my tenure at Geneseo,” Kitson says. “Giving back to the Rochester community was a great honor.”
During his senior year, Kitson conducted an independent study on African-American Health, presenting his findings at the Society for Applied Anthropology Conference in Memphis and at Geneseo’s GREAT Day.
With Chierici’s help, he then obtained a summer internship with the office of Congressman John Lewis in Washington, D.C., working under the health care legislative director on health policy for Atlanta.
“I have always been intrigued by health and helping others,” says Kitson, who has a masters in public health from Columbia University. “The health internships taught me a lot about health disparities in America.”
The internships also gave Kitson the required work experience to land a position after graduation at Memorial Sloan-Kettering as a liaison between patients, families and clinical teams. Currently, he administers the breast-cancer chemotherapy unit, and is responsible for about 70 patients a day.
“Memorial Sloan-Kettering is the number-one cancer center in the country,” Kitson says, “and I have been blessed to work there. Some days can be rougher than others considering the situations I work with, but in the end I would not change it for the world.”
Active Plus gives a purpose to his life outside of the hospital. The organization works with 100 young people and has sponsored players in five leagues. It continues to grow, allowing more and more young people to participate in sports and also in community service projects.
“Working with youth and seeing the affect we have on their life means the world to us,” Kitson says. “We feel blessed to be in a position to help others.”
— By Jim Memmott