Furman University

by Reagan Thompson ’14, Contributing Writer

When this year’s Five on Five Soccer Extravaganza was rained out last Friday, most assumed that there wouldn’t be a tournament. Thanks to proper planning and teamwork, what some had dubbed a “wash out” proved a unique success.

“We wanted a fun, music-festivalesqe atmosphere,” explained Grant Allard, soccer coach and coordinator of the event.  When the rain hit, instead of cancelling the event, it was moved indoors to the Physical Activities Center.

“The turnout was excellent,” said Allard.  Over 120 students came to compete in the five on five, including faculty and staff who showed up for a game of their own.  The 13 mens’, six womens’, and two faculty-staff teams all shared one court.  Hosting the tournament in the PAC added to the overall energy of the event because there was so much going on in one space.

“The Extravaganza works because everyone gives a piece of themselves and makes this whole enterprise greater than the sum of its parts,” said Allard who also stressed that through teamwork, the Planning Alliance for the Extravaganza was able to promote the game, relay information about its new location, and keep the event a success despite the downpour. “Stuff like this is what makes our ‘Engaged’ tag line have an oomph that moves it beyond the cliché!”

Unlike previous soccer tournaments, this year’s focus wasn’t raising money, but raising awareness.  “Relay for Life was the week ahead of us . . . It’s hard to ask students again for more money! Raising awareness allowed us to set a primary goal of having fun,” said Allard.

In the past, Extravaganza, founded by men’s soccer coach Doug Allison, has raised about $50,000 for humanitarian and social sustainability projects. In 2010 and 2011 the event raised funds to aid victims of the Haiti and Japan disasters. Last year, the tournament raised funds to construct a water well in Guatemala.

The tournament winners for the mens’ and womens’ teams were, respectively, the men’s rugby team and the Kappa Delta Sophie’s.  When Allard was asked who won, however, he explained that “winning and losing are such poor terms for a situation like this. I think this experience is about growing and changing more than just getting a W.”  Each participant received a free T-shirt courtesy of Heller Service Corps and designed by Darryl Debruhl of Dzign and Mprintz.  “Maybe people will think about  sustainability issues such as other people’s access to clean water. At least when they wear the shirt, Earth Day might be something cool and memorable and not just another awareness day, but ‘the awareness day I had fun on!’”

by Reagan Thompson ’14, Contributing Writer

For many, human trafficking, slavery and bondage are the plague of a by-gone era.

But in many countries, these activities thrive. In fact, about 27 million people worldwide live a life of debt bondage, sex trafficking, or involuntary domestic servitude, which equates to a $37 billion-a-year industry.

Furman’s student-run Global Issues Forum (GIF) realizes the significance of this problem and has spent the last year raising awareness about this issue and others related to women and gender.

GIF’s most recent effort—bringing a speaker from the awareness group Not for Sale to Furman last Tuesday—was supported in part by Furman’s young alumni as part of the Young Alumni Council’s micro-philanthropy projects.

Not For Sale seeks to “create a world where no one is for sale,” according to Ethan Batstone, director of engagements for Not For Sale.  The group, he said, tries to stem the tide of human trafficking by creating “tools that engage business, government, and grassroots in order to . . . grow social enterprises to benefit enslaved and vulnerable communities.”

Not For Sale’s reach has extended into Uganda, South Africa, Romania, Thailand Cambodia, and Peru.  The group also operates country-specific campaigns, pushing for health care and education reform, as well as advocating for children.  Free to Work, the campaign’s international labor rights board, scores and critiques companies on child labor usage and works to educate businesses on the consequences of using child labor.

After learning about Not For Sale’s initiatives as well as the issue of enslaved communities, Furman students and others heard from a panel of professors and experts who gave interpretations from both a local and international perspective.

Veena Khandke, Asian Studies professor, and Julieta Barcaglioni-Heller, housing assistance program manager for Safe Harbor, a non-profit domestic violence prevention center in the Upstate, discussed the causes of human trafficking.

Khandke said environmental sustainability, poverty, deprivation, and migration play a large role in the prevalence of forced labor.  There are, she said, many social factors involved in trafficking as well, including, culture, gender and ethnicity.

“Dealing with these inequalities creates a sense of need and desperation that brings vulnerable people into the crosshairs of criminal networks . . . and trafficking,” she said.

Students also learned about this issue on a local level.  Barcaglioni-Heller said she has seen three examples of human trafficking in Greenville since 2010. Most of these, she said, suffered from domestic violence and succumbed to the promises of a better life.

For more information about Not for Sale, visit the organization’s website.

Helen Carroll, Sports Project director for National Center for Lesbian Rights, will speak on the Furman University campus Thursday, April 4 at 7 p.m. in Watkins Room of the Trone Student Center. Former Furman women’s basketball player, Ashland Johnson ‘05, will also offer remarks.

Carroll’s talk, “Benched: LGBT Athletes on the Sidelines,” is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by Furman’s Encouraging Respect of Sexualities (EROS) organization, and is part of Furman’s Cultural Life Program.

Carroll joined the NCLR in 2001 to fight homophobia in sports. Previously, she was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletic director for 12 years. In 1984, Carroll led the University of North Carolina-Asheville to the NAIA women’s national basketball championship.

Carroll plays an instrumental role in NCLR’s sports law work, offering her expertise in college athletics and the greater sports community. Such cases include negotiating a settlement on behalf of a teacher and basketball coach in Bloomburg, Texas who was terminated because of her sexual orientation. Carroll’s expertise in the area of women’s collegiate athletics was integral to NCLR’s representation of former Penn State women’s basketball star Jennifer Harris. Carroll also worked with the University of Florida to create policies and a model training program designed to prevent harassment and discrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students and athletes.

Carroll works closely with national sports organizations including the Women’s Sports Foundation and the NCAA. She has participated in panels with the NCAA, the Olympic Committee, Nike, the U.S. Tennis Association, the New York Times, and the San Francisco 49ers, among others. She was featured in Dee Mosbacher’s award-winning film, “Out for a Change: Addressing Homophobia in Women’s Sports,” and in author Pat Griffin’s book, Strong Women, Deep Closets.

For more information about the event, contact Furman’s News and Information Office at 864-294-3107.