The Cal Poly Recreation Center will host the 21st annual Mark S. Reuling Volleyball Tournament in remembrance of Mark Reuling, a Cal Poly alumnus who took his own life. The tournament will be held Friday, Oct, 19.
The tournament will finish off Associated Student Inc.’s (ASI) Buck the Stigma week, which is devoted to raising awareness about mental health, according to agricultural business junior and student marketing assistant for the Recreation Center Chloe Barney.
“We use [Mark’s] story as a platform to make sure this doesn’t get pushed under the rug,” Barney said on raising mental health awareness.
Reuling graduated from Cal Poly in 1991 as a construction management major. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and later committed suicide. His parents Ed and Pam started the foundation and attended the tournament every year until Ed died of a heart attack four years ago, according to Pam.
Pam said she still visits Cal Poly and plans on attending Friday’s event.
The tournament is a collaboration between ASI, Campus Health and Wellbeing and the Mark S. Reuling Endowment. Proceeds from the tournament go towards the endowment and the Recreation Center.
There are two divisions: six-person faculty teams and four-person students teams. Registration is $60 for faculty and $40 for students.
The faculty division is full, but they are still looking to fill the student division.
Faculty division games will be held indoors from 11 a.m to 1 p.m., and student division will be at the Recreation Center sand volleyball courts from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.