Ethan White

Ethan White: Still Fighting, Still Inspiring
When Ethan White took the field at the Big House this fall, it wasn’t with his drumsticks in hand this time. The 22-year-old University of Michigan senior and Michigan Marching Band drummer, diagnosed in 2024 with diffuse midline glioma (DMG), a rare and incurable brain tumor, had been invited to serve as an honorary captain for the Wolverines.

Standing before the football team in the locker room, Ethan shared a message that silenced the room.
“You can plan. You can train. You can do everything right. And the game will still hit back,” he told them. “The difference in our stories is that you guys still get to play. That’s not something to take for granted. It’s a privilege most people don’t realize they have until it’s gone.”

His words carried the weight of experience. Over the past year and a half, Ethan has endured more than most people face in a lifetime: two rounds of radiation, multiple targeted drug therapies, and complications including hydrocephalus — a buildup of fluid in the brain that left him with headaches, memory loss, and weakness on his right side. Surgery to place a shunt brought relief, but his vision and balance remain unpredictable. Still, Ethan refuses to back down.

“Every day feels like a fight to stay alive,” he said. “I keep showing up. Not because I’m fearless, not because it’s easy, but because I still have something to fight for.”

Defying the Odds
Ethan’s journey began in March 2024, when he was just 20. A psychology and pre-med major, writer for The Michigan Daily, and snare drummer for the Michigan Marching Band, he suddenly found himself struggling to use his right hand and leg. An MRI revealed the unimaginable — a diffuse midline glioma, a tumor embedded deep in the brainstem.

Doctors told him most patients live nine to twelve months. But nearly two years later, Ethan continues to defy those odds and to inspire everyone around him.

Under the care of Dr. Carl Koschmann, the Clinical Research Director at the Chad Carr Pediatric Brain Tumor Center at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, Ethan’s treatment journey has combined traditional and experimental approaches. 

The very drug that once gave Ethan hope, ONC201, has since received FDA approval, a milestone made possible in part through the advocacy of families like Ethan’s and organizations such as the ChadTough Defeat DIPG Foundation, which helped fund nearly a decade of research on the therapy.

Finding Joy Amid the Fight
Through it all, Ethan has worked hard to hold on to the things he loves most. His parents, Michelle Sherman and Brian White, have been his constant source of strength, and his friends and girlfriend, Natalie, surround him with humor, care, and support.

Though he hasn’t been able to perform with the Michigan Marching Band this fall, Ethan remains part of its heartbeat, attending practices when he can and cheering alongside his drumline family on game days. He hopes to regain enough strength in his right side to return to the field soon.

“Once my right hand and leg gain function and strength,” he says, “I’ll be back out there on the field again.”
Ethan also brought his signature spirit to the 12th annual RunTough for ChadTough Defeat DIPG this fall, where he served as the event’s honorary horn puller — a tradition that sends hundreds of runners and walkers off on the course in honor of children who have battled DIPG and DMG. Surrounded by friends, family, and fellow Wolverines, Ethan counted down and sounded the horn with a broad smile, a moment of pure joy and determination.

That morning, as orange shirts filled the Saline High School track, Ethan embodied everything the day stood for: courage, connection, and hope.

More Than a Fight
Ethan’s message to the Michigan football team, and to everyone who hears his story, is not just about surviving, but about living with purpose.

“There are days I want to give up,” he admitted. “Days my body feels like it’s giving up on me. It hurts and it’s hard. But here we are.”

His resilience is a reminder that strength comes not from the absence of pain, but from the choice to keep showing up. Each day, Ethan proves that while DMG may be relentless, so is the human spirit.
For Ethan, and for every family facing this diagnosis, hope remains the most powerful weapon.