From an early age, first-year student Mark Radel demonstrated compassion. As a precocious 9-year-old, he would rush onto the basketball court (accompanied by the coaches) whenever someone got hurt to check in and offer a helping hand.

“Mark is overflowing with empathy, and he has a great ability to know if somebody is having a bad day, and what he can do to help them through it,” says his brother Luke Radel, a junior studying political science in the Maxwell School and broadcast and digital journalism in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. With a proud smile, he says that trait will serve Mark well as he strives for a career in sports and exercise science as an athletic trainer.

Mark’s career ambition is being supported by InclusiveU, an initiative from the ⁠Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education⁠ that sets a high standard among inclusive higher education programs, making higher education more accessible for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“I want to help people. I’m loving learning about the body, and how what we eat helps make us strong, and when I graduate, I want to work with my football team, the Buffalo Bills, as a trainer,” says Mark, a sports and exercise science major at the University who was born with Down syndrome.

Mark’s benevolent spirit helped Luke during his darkest days. While visiting colleges with his family in Boston, Luke was out to dinner when he discovered his voice had left him. Realizing there was a potential health problem, he checked into Massachusetts General Hospital.

Within a few hours, the doctors gave Luke their diagnosis: Stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma. With his head spinning, Luke began undergoing chemotherapy sessions twice a month for six months, oftentimes for five or more hours per visit.

“Mark was by my side, and his compassion was so helpful. Plus, he gives the best hugs. Whenever I was having a bad day, those hugs were just amazing and turned my day around,” says Luke, whose cancer is in remission.

When Luke decided to attend Syracuse University, Mark decided to follow in his brother’s footsteps, applying to and being granted admission into InclusiveU’s highly competitive program.

Their unbreakable bond has been strengthened as roommates on campus. Luke helps Mark with his homework and with prepping his meals, and configured Mark’s Google Maps app on his phone with the relevant directions needed for Mark to traverse campus on a daily basis.

Inspired to become a broadcast journalist from his efforts advocating on Mark’s behalf, Luke has amassed an impressive portfolio as a broadcast journalist, recently covering both the Republican and Democratic national conventions and serving as a  multimedia journalist for WKTV in Utica, New York.

“I always wanted to go to college, and being here with my brother has been amazing. This experience has changed my life,” Mark says.

Read the full story via the SU News website.

By John Boccacino