On Saturday afternoon President Obama, Vice President Biden and Houston Rockets star Tracy McGrady watched on as the Georgetown Hoyas played (and beat) the Duke Blue Devils at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC*.
Unusual content for this blog? Perhaps, except for the video that played during a timeout early in the game. In the video longtime rivals Duke and Georgetown announced a partnership in support of the Darfur Dream Team, a fundraising project for the Sister Schools Program, an initiative to connect American middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities with sister schools in 12 refugee camps in Chad.
The student groups Georgetown STAND and Duke for Darfur are leading the effort to raise money to refurbish and equip two schools in Darfuri refugee camps in eastern Chad. According to the Enough Project, “Thanks in large part to their high-profile event today, they are well on their way.”
That Tracy McGrady, Alexander Aleinikoff, the incoming U.N. deputy commissioner for refugees and a Georgetown alum, and Michel Gabaudan, the UNHCR Regional Representative for the United States and the Caribbean, and other U.N. staff would come specifically to support the student’s fundraising efforts says a lot about the role of both students and sports in highlighting important causes. That the students could launch their initiative in front of the President and Vice President (and in the middle of such a great game) was all the better.
For more coverage check out Enough Said, The Huffington Post, and ESPN.com.
*yes, this blog post might be slightly biased towards the Hoyas. Sorry, Duke fans.
The opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Save Darfur Coalition.
Tags: athletes, basketball, Darfur, Darfur Dream Team, Duke, Enough Project, Georgetown, sports, Tracy McGrady
