Spartan? Wolverine? You can aid rape kit testing

Since the rise of a new coalition of African-American women to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to test abandoned rape kits and investigate the crimes, fund-raising ideas have sprung up all over the city.

Donation parties.

Crowd-funding.

Mobilizing preachers' wives.

And now comes football.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, who has been raising funds to test rape kits found abandoned in a police warehouse in 2009, welcomes every effort. She's trying to raise $25 million to fund investigations of the more than 12,000 kits that date back 30 years.

So when a Michigan State University alumna suggested that Spartan Green square off against Michigan Blue in a donation face-off, Worthy, a University of Michigan alumna, said yes.

She not only said yes. She volunteered to be the "quarterback" for her alma mater, U-M.

"It's a great idea," she said Friday. "A lot of these ideas are are going to be acted on, and that's a good thing. It took a long to time to get here, but we're moving forward. We're going to raise this money and bring justice to these victims."

Worthy said she had no problem raising money through a football game.

"It doesn’t take away from the horrific nature of the crime. It’s no different than the ice bucket challenge," she said, referring to the campaign to raise awareness about ALS. "If this will bring some attention … It’s not just raising money; it’s raising awareness. Maybe a few rape victims who didn’t want to come forward will see this groundswell of support ... "

Worthy will square off against MSU "quarterback" Jemele Hill, co-host of ESPN2's daily sports show "His & Hers" and an MSU alumna and former Free Press reporter.

"The issue of rape and sexual assault is very personal for me," Hill said Friday via text. "My mother is a rape survivor. As a young adult, I was nearly raped, but I was fortunate enough to escape my attacker. Sexual assault remains one of the most under reported crimes in America, in part, because victims do not have faith in the reporting process."

Hill said raising funds for the cause has elevated an already big game.

"As a Michigan State graduate, it goes without saying how important the Michigan game is," she said. "But this year's game will take on a much greater significance because we will be tying our love for our universities and this rivalry to a worthwhile cause. Regardless of the outcome of the game, there won't be any losers."

Last week, a group of nearly 100 African-American women stood up and declared their resolve to raise money for the cause. Of more than 10,000 rape kits already tested, 2,616 corresponded to DNA in CODIS, or the Combined DNA Index System. More than 80% of the victims were African American, and a fifth were under age 16. Of those matches in the national crime database, authorities identified 549 suspected serial rapists.

"We are trying to mobilize everyone, from key leaders to key grassroots activists to ask them to help us get the word out," said Kim Trent, co-chair of the African American 490 Challenge, the coalition of women's groups that has asked sororities, nonprofits, community groups, service organizations, book clubs and any other bodies to raise money in multiples of $490 — the cost to test a single rape kit.

Spartans and Wolverines and their supporters can donate at www.aa490challenge.org. Each donor will be asked to designate whether they're Spartan or Wolverine, and the challenge will last through Saturday's game.

"There's nothing like competition to get people engaged," Trent said, "and there's no greater competition than U-M vs. MSU."

Contact Rochelle Riley: rriley99@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @rochelleriley. Listen to her at 4 p.m. Sundays on "In the Mix with Marie and Rochelle" on WJR 760AM.