Queens Alumna Refused To Put Her Life On Hold

When Lauren Carter DiFrank ’13 visited Queens University of Charlotte, she was immediately charmed. She loved the small feel of the campus but also valued its proximity to Uptown and how it encompassed all the amenities of Charlotte.

Moving to Charlotte from her home in Cincinnati to major in elementary education at Queens would set in motion a significant series of events.

‘Part of the Family’

Her first three years of college were filled with typical college life — she participated in athletics on the Queens cheerleading team, joined the Alpha Delta Pi sorority, and enjoyed hanging out with the many other Royals she’d met.

Near the beginning of her senior year, on Labor Day weekend, DiFrank found a golf ball-sized lump on her neck. Almost immediately, doctors diagnosed her with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

“At the time, I thought I was in the best health of my life. I was cheering, and running five miles a day,” DiFrank said.

Her doctor immediately assumed that she would move back home to Ohio to be near her parents for the duration of her cancer treatment. But she refused to put her life on hold.

“So, my parents called up then-President Pamela Davies, we got all my professors together in one room, and we came up with a game plan for how to manage my classes and graduate on time,” she said. “They took my case under their wing and did everything in their power to accommodate.”

DiFrank emphatically believes that’s what sets Queens apart from other schools.

“People at Queens are so good at making you feel like you are part of the family; they value each and every one of the students,” she said.

Chemotherapy results in a compromised immune system, so DiFrank wasn’t allowed to live with anyone. Queens set her up in the newly built South Residence Hall (now Byrum) in a suite by herself and had all her belongings from her former living quarters brought over and set up. Everyone on campus rallied around her, wearing special t-shirts and bracelets to support her, while she received chemotherapy for the next three months.

As an education major, DiFrank was supposed to engage in student teaching during the second semester of her senior year. Though she had completed her treatment, she was still experiencing lingering side effects and was under close observation by her care team. Queens arranged for her to student-teach at Meyers Park Traditional Elementary School near both the campus and Atrium Health’s Levine Cancer Institute in case she needed medical attention.

While she underwent lymphoma treatment, DiFrank became linked through Queens The 24 Foundation — a nonprofit organization in Charlotte. The foundation’s founders, Spencer and Susan Lueders, endow a 24 Foundation Scholarship for students who are significantly affected by cancer, whether themselves or as a family member. The scholarship funded the tuition for DiFrank’s senior year at Queens and the connection between her and the foundation has grown deeper ever since.

In February 2013, doctors told DiFrank that she was in remission. She attended commencement that spring, as planned, with her classmates. After graduation, DiFrank knew she wanted to remain in Charlotte and began putting down solid roots. She started teaching third grade, beginning her career in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district. Later, she would open her own business — a fairytale-themed dance studio called Bella Ballerina Highland Creek — and transition from being an educator to being an entrepreneur.

Along the way, she kept the Queens motto “not to be served, but to serve” in mind and maintained a special bond serving on the University’s alumni athletic advisory board.

‘It’s Important to Give Back’

DiFrank started participating in The 24 Foundation events, helping to raise money for the many cancer patient and survivor programs that the organization supports. It was at one of these events — a benefit concert — that she met the man who would become her husband.

When they started dating, Rob DiFrank was also in remission from cancer. The two were married at the Belk Chapel on Queens’ campus. A few years later, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, they had a son, James, and he joins in on the annual fundraising bike ride through Meyers Park for the 24 Foundation.

When passing by the campus, DiFrank said, “I point out Belk Chapel and say, ‘That’s where Mommy and Daddy got married.’ There is also a giant picture of me cheerleading in the gym and I get a picture of James next to it every year.”

Over the time they were together, Rob battled cancer off and on, and, in November 2023, he passed away. DiFrank continues to support The 24 Foundation — the organization that originally brought them together — in memory of Rob and others affected by cancer.

“I think it’s important to give back to an organization that’s helped us so much. Any beneficiary program that they have, Rob and I have taken advantage of it. When you see the positive outcomes of those programs, you just feel called to make sure that other people can have the same,” DiFrank said.

Additionally, her parents created The Lauren Nicole Carter ’13 Scholarship, which provides financial assistance to undergraduate students facing unexpected medical challenges while at Queens.

DiFrank is committed to helping others, being philanthropic, and advocating for a better future — takeaways DiFrank holds onto from her time at Queens.

“The Queens’ motto fits right into our story,” she said.

By Nicole Ward Beckley