EXAMPLE PAGE - SCHOOL BROCHURE - DEMOCRACY - Flipbook - Page 26
“Everyone’s voice can
bring about change.”
SPORTS
COALITION
MEMBERS
The seven Boilermakers
selected to join the Big
Ten Anti-Hate and AntiRacism Coalition are
head coaches Jeff Brohm
(football), Norbert Elliott
(track & field), and Dave
Shondell (volleyball); student-athletes Jared Florell
(wrestling) and Nyagoa
Gony (women’s basketball);
and staff members Carly
Day (head physician) and
Peyton Stovall (studentathlete development).
BUILDING MOMENTUM
Nyagoa Gony named to Big Ten Anti-Hate and Anti-Racism Coalition
As the daughter of South Sudan refugees, Nyagoa Gony
has social justice in her blood. Her parents fled the war-torn
country and resettled in South Dakota, where Gony was
born, before relocating to Lincoln, Nebraska.
“I feel like I’ve always been an activist,” Gony says. “I saw
my parents strive and fight for what they deserved because
they were treated as second-class citizens. Growing up
Black in America, you see how not everyone is granted the
same opportunities. What I try to preach is that everyone
can make a difference.”
This summer, Gony helped organize protests in her
hometown to bring attention to issues of racial justice. She
also participated in a virtual Purdue Athletics event organized by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee where
Black athletes and other minorities had an opportunity to
share their firsthand experiences with discrimination.
“A lot of the white athletes were completely unaware of
the inequalities that Black student-athletes face on a regular basis,” Gony says. One microaggression Gony’s faced her
Men’s Basketball For the first time in 21 seasons, the Boilermakers sold out every game in Mackey Arena, resulting in a
school-record average attendance and a No. 16 national ranking in attendance, according to official NCAA attendance numbers released in August. • Men’s
Golf The team was one of four in the Big Ten to earn Presidents Special Recognition Honors from the Golf Coaches Association of America for a team GPA
of 3.5 and above. In addition, four student-athletes earned Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar Awards. • Women’s Golf Incoming freshman Jocelyn
Bruch finished second at the Golfweek Midwest Collegiate in July. The Carmel, Indiana, native earned runner-up honors with a final score of 1-over 217 for
the 54-hole tournament. • Volleyball For the second consecutive year, Purdue was awarded the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic
Award for the 2019–20 season. The distinction honors college and high school programs that maintain a yearlong grade-point average of 3.30 or higher.
24 PUR D U E A LUMNUS
CH A R L E S JIS CH KE (M BA’08 )
// THE HIGHLIGHTS //
entire life — an unwillingness for some to learn to correctly
pronounce her name [Nyagoa sounds like Nah-gwa]. “A lot
of people within my community would change the pronunciation of their names to accommodate people who could
not pronounce them. Growing up I didn’t see it as degrading. But now that I am older and I recognize my worth, it’s
something I’ve become aware of. My name is who I am.”
Gony’s activism made her a natural choice to represent
Purdue on the Big Ten Anti-Hate and Anti-Racism Coalition announced in June. She is one of seven Boilermakers appointed to the task force, which seeks tangible ways
to actively and constructively combat racism and hate
around the world while also empowering student-athletes
to express their rights to free speech and peaceful protest.
“We want to work within our universities to promote
change,” Gony says. “We’re huge on voter registration, trying
to get people on our team to register to vote. I believe that
everyone’s voice has momentum. Everyone’s voice can bring
—KAT BRAZ (LA’01, MS LA’19)
about change.”