The Organization

Blood Drives United (BDU), sponsored by the community service organization Alpha Phi Omega (APO), is a student-run volunteer organization dedicated to the promotion, organization, and staffing of campus-wide blood drives. BDU empowers students, staff, faculty, and community members to make a difference in a local and international public health crisis. The purpose of BDU is to organize blood drives on campus and thereby provide the staff, faculty, and students of the university, as well as the surrounding community, the opportunity to donate blood and save lives. BDU seeks to raise blood donation awareness and educate the community and university body about the importance of and benefits of blood donation.

The 2012 Blood Battle Chairs are Carrie Burgess, Kevin Weiss, Jessie Baker, Samantha Rea, Betsy Gast, and Kelli Malott. To contact the Blood Battle Chairs, click the Contact Us link or email bb12chairs@umich.edu.

The Competition

This November marks the 30th annual Blood Battle between the University of Michigan and Ohio State University, sponsored by the American Red Cross and Blood Drives United, a university sponsored service organization. The competition extends the athletic rivalry beyond the field as students, staff, and community members donate blood to save lives. In the weeks leading up to the football game between the two universities blood drives will be held at various locations across the U of M campus in an effort to collect more pints of blood than Ohio State. After a six year losing streak, U of M has pulled ahead to win the battle for the past three years. This fall the drives will begin on November 3 and continue through November 18, 2011. In that two and a half week period, we hope to collect over 2,500 pints of blood, potentially saving three times as many lives.

In addition to Blood Battle, there is a winter blood drive competition held every January and February on the U of M campus. This competition typically takes place against either Michigan State University or all of the schools in the Big Ten Conference. This year's competition begins January 22 and continues through February 10th.

History

In 1966, the students of Alpha Phi Omega sponsored and hosted the first blood drives on the Michigan campus. There were two days of drives in the Michigan Union Ballroom, and 472 students donated blood. The drives expanded so much that in 1982 the organizers simultaneously took advantage of their success and the rivalry with the Buckeyes to hold the first Blood Battle. The University of Michigan won, and a tradition was born.

Recent years have seen close competitions. In 2007, U of M lost by a mere three pints - the equivalent to three donors - when both schools collected over 2000 pints. It was Michigan's sixth straight loss in the battle, and OSU was closing the gap on Michigan's overall win record.

With an overwhelming showing by the student body and an incredible display of school spirit, Michigan broke OSU's streak in 2008. U of M won a decisive 2333-pint to 2152-pint victory. Those numbers indicate that U of M alone could have potentially saved nearly 7000 lives with the blood collected in November 2008.

In 2009, both U of M and OSU collected more pints of blood than the year before. U of M defended the championship by collecting 2,449 pints of blood on U of M's Ann Arbor campus during the 2009 Blood Battle - as opposed to 2,350 pints collected in Columbus by the Buckeyes. The Wolverines continued the tradition during the 2010 Blood Battle, collecting 2,615 pints of blood as opposed to the 2,515 pints collected at OSU. In the 30th anniversary of the competition, Michigan secured their 4th consecutive victory against the Buckeyes, collecting 2,628 pints of blood, surpassing the 2,402 pints of blood collected by Ohio State.

Past Blood Battle and Game results: