Page A4
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
The Pilot
News
GW community can improve lives of children caught in war
By Samba Fall
Special to The Pilot
In 2003, three young film
makers left Southern Califor
nia for Afi"ica in search of a
story to tell. The original
plan was to visit Sudan, but
Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey
and Laren Poole found their
story in Uganda, where reb
els were fighting the coun
try’s government.
As part of their battle, the
rebels abduct and brainwash
innocent kids and turn them
into heartless killers with
little hope for a brighter to
morrow.
Poole, Russell and Bailey
experienced and filmed the
hardships and suffering that
many Ugandan children go
through day after day. That
film is now a documentary
called “Invisible Children.”
Campaigns of support for
peace in Uganda have been
organized at many colleges
and universities of America.
Now, it is Gardner-Webb
University’s turn
Through her Public Re
lations Techniques class.
Professor Lisa Luedeman of
the Communications Studies
Department is helping some
students finalize a campaign
for Gardner-Webb and the
surrounding communities.
“Actually, a group of stu
dents came up with the idea,”
said Luedeman.
“They came across the
Invisible Children organiza
tion, got the DVD, and sug
gested to build a campaign
of awareness out of it. The
rest of the class agreed with
them, and here we are work
ing on implementing the
whole project.
“This is a learning process
in the field of Public Rela
tions for these students,” said
Luedeman. “Each student
has been assigned a specific
duty and is asked to provide
weekly reports throughout
the whole process. But most
of all, you have to value
the students’ desire to bring
awareness about this injus
tice.
“This campaign is intend
ed to provide participants
a sense of awareness and
hopefully action in the form
of donations, regarding the
war in Uganda and its devas
tating effects on children as
young as 4 who are abducted
and forced to become sol
diers.
“We hope this first cam
paign will create awareness,
and then continue on in up
coming semesters,” said Lu
edeman.
There will be two phases
of the upcoming campaign,
beginning with a screening
of “Invisible Children” at the
final Verge worship service
of the semester April 29. The
Verge will begin at 8 p.m. in
the Dover Campus Center;
the screening is expected to
start around 8:45 p.m.
The second phase is a
simulated night commute
to represent what Ugandan
children are subjected to in
trying to escape abduction by
the rebel forces. At present,
Ugandan kids who are afraid
of being kidnapped gather
each night to sleep at bus
stations, hospital yards and
abandoned buildings. That
phenomenon, called “night
commuting”, saves many
kids from being kidnapped
straight out of bed at home
(if they have a home or fam
ily).
Donations are encour
aged, but not required, to
attend and participate in the
events. A short reception will
be held complete with door
prizes, donated by commu
nity sponsors, for those who
donate at least $1 to the cam
paign to help these children.
“Of course, we would
love to raise a lot of money,
but even if we only raise a
small amount with this first
event, it can go so far in
Uganda,” said Luedeman.
“It doesn’t take a lot to
make a big difference, such
as building schools and dor
mitories where these children
will have some kind of pro
tection from such atrocities.
“I think that being a
Christian institution leads
♦
and motivates our daily ac
tions,” said Luedeman.
“But you have to ap
preciate and applaud these
students’ understanding and
determination of getting
involved in such a global
humanitarian effort. We
are hoping to have a lot of
support and feedback from
Gardner-Webb and our sur
rounding communities.”
Watching this documen
tary may change your lives
as it did that of the Bailey,
Russell and Poole, as well as
the students in Luedeman’s
Public Relations class. Bring
a handkerchief with you, be
cause you will no doubt be
moved by the stories of chil
dren such as Jacob, Emmy or
Innocent—whose innocence
was lost because they had the
misfortune of being bom into
a state of war.
For more information
about the event, contact Lisa
Luedeman at 704-406-2055
or lluedeman@gardner-
webb.edu.
Visit the Web site invisi-
blechildren.com for informa
tion about the cause.
U. Kentucky student flees war-torn home, finds second chance in U.S.
By Jill Laster
Kentucky Kernel (U. Ken
tucky)
(U-WIRE) LEXING
TON, Ky. - Government and
rebel forces began fighting
in Mabior Ghack’s village in
1987. When he heard shots,
5-year-old Ghack began run
ning.
He couldn’t find his par
ents, and out of fear he did
not go back to try to join
them.
“When you are in that
kind of situation, all you
think about is living or dy
ing,” he said. “There are no
other options. So you have to
think of living.”
Ghack, who will gradu
ate from the University of
Kentucky in May with a civil
engineering degree, is one
of the “lost boys of Sudan,”
the name given to more than
27,000 boys displaced or or
phaned during the Second
Sudanese Civil War between
1983 and 2003.
During the war, govern
ment troops systematically
attacked Sudanese villages.
More than 2 million people
were killed during the 20-
year war, according to the In
temational Rescue Commit
tee. Girls were raped, taken
as slaves, killed or adopted
by other Sudanese families.
Many boys, often orphaned,
traveled on foot for weeks to
nearby countries as refugees.
Fleeing from his Suda
nese village to Ethiopia was
a three-week journey. Dur
ing that time, Ghack and a
fiiend were protected by an
older man, and the group
managed to avoid the attacks
from wild animals and from
armed forces while crossing
the Sudanese border. Ghack
had only the clothes on his
back and whatever food he
could scavenge when he left
Sudan.
It wasn’t much better in
Ethiopia.
“You can’t make it on
your own,” he said. “Some
people tried to go back, and
some died because of ani
mals, some died because of
himger, some died because
of lack of water.”
For three more years
Ghack lived in an Ethiopian
refiigee camp. While there,
he didn’t think much about
whether he would get to see
his parents again, if they
were even alive — it was too
unrealistic, he said.
When he was 9, Ethiopi
an rebels overthrew the gov
ernment, resulting in chaos
for the country. Ghack and
others abandoned the camp
and began the dangerous trip
back into Sudan.
After facing many of the
same obstacles he encoun
tered on the way to Ethiopia,
Ghack arrived in a small Su
danese town where he lived
for about four months before
he decided to cross with a
group into Kenya, a safer
country where he could go to
school.
In 1993, six years after
fleeing his home village,
Ghack figured out how to
contact his father. He called
from Kenya and told his fa
ther he was alive.
In the months that fol
lowed, Ghack, II, saved up
money to call about once a
month. During middle school
he worked as a plumber and
tended a small plot of kale,
a leafy green vegetable he
sold at the market to pay for
school supplies.
During their last phone
conversation, Ghack told his
father he wanted to visit Su
dan to see his family. His fa
ther told him not to because
he could be killed in the con
flict between rebel and gov
ernment forces, and to stay in
school instead.
A year after they last
talked on the phone, Ghack
received a letter from his
uncle. As he began to open it,
his cousin, who knew what
it contained, told Ghack to
throw it away. He opened it
anyway.
His parents had been
killed during fighting be
tween the government and
rebel forces.
“I was on the bed, and I
fell to the floor,” Ghack said.
“I didn’t go to school for two
weeks.”
Ghack finished high
school in Kenya in 2000. A
year later, he heard a reli
gious group would be inter
ested in sponsoring him and
other refugees going to the
United States. The refiigees
thought it was all talk until
they began filling out appli
cations.
After a yearlong process
of interviews and paperwork,
Ghack was on his way to the
United States.
Ghack arrived in Louis
ville in 2001. He could write
proficiently in English, but
he had trouble speaking it.
Ghack took classes through
the Kentucky Refiigee Min
istries to leam both Ameri
can culture and English.
He began working nights
at a gas station and taking
classes at Jefferson Com
munity College in Louisville
during the day. Ghack gradu
ated with an associate degree
and applied to the University
of Kentucky. The workload
was daunting.
“When (my father) told
me to go into engineering,
I didn’t think I would go to
college. Even when I was ad
mitted to UK, I didn’t think I
would graduate,” he said.
Ghack, a U.S. citizen
since June 2007, has been at
UK for four years.
Fellow students some
times ask Ghack for his sto
ry, but he doesn’t say much.
Someone recently asked him
if he was' going to visit his
parents after graduation. He
evaded the question and re
plied that he would visit fam
ily.
“I don’t tell a lot of my
history because if I tell them,
I don’t think they would be
lieve it,” he said.
Nanney Hall
beconning a
female dorm
next year
By Kory McNair
Pilot staff writer
Nanny Residence Hall is
becoming a women’s dorm
after years of housing men,
thanks to an influx of female
students expected for the fall
2008 semester
“We are growing and
exited about this growth,”
said Sherri Ingram, director
of residence life at Gardner-
Webb University.
Originally, Nanney was
a female dorm, but some
years ago it was designated
a men’s dorm to accommo
date the number of male stu
dents.
“I think the changes are
necessary,” said Cole Hard
en, who is currently the Resi
dent Assistant for Nanney’s
second floor.
“Nanney used to be a
girls’ dorm, so they’re re
versing it back to what it
originally was.”
The H.A.P.Y. Hall wing,
which is currently a female
dorm, will become a men’s
dorm next year
However, the changes
though are not leaving cur
rent Nanney residents out in
the cold,
They received preference
over other students when it
came to choosing their hous
ing arrangements for next
yean They had first choice
for the room or apartment
that they wanted, if the space
was available.
“Gardner-Webb’s being
pretty fair, for giving Nan
ney residents first choice to
where they want to live,”
said Harden.
The changes, however,
have some Nanney residents
divided.
“I don’t mind it,” said
Ben Prewitt, who currently
resides on the first floor. “I’m
not too angry about it.”
Second-floor resident
Chase Westbrook isn’t as at
ease about it.
“I’m not necessarily
pleased by it, but I under
stand it,” said Westbrook.
“I don’t like that we have to
leave the community that we
have created here.”
Another resident had a
similar attitude.
“I just don’t think it’s re
ally fair that we have to move
out,” said Shane Bryant, who
also lives on Narmey’s sec
ond floor.
Ben Leslie, provost, brings his worldly experience to GWU community
By Lauren Taylor
Pilot staff writer
Quiet strength. Well-chosen
and deliberate words — always.
No need to speak above a hush; a
presence so gently commanding
requires no loud or fancy words.
He exemplifies gentility and refine
ment.
Meet Dr. Ben Leslie, Gardner-
Webb University’s provost.
A provost seeks the good of the
students and the faculty, ensuring
that every program, curricula and
dollar spent shines like a new pair
of patent leather shoes.
As President A. Frank Bonner’s
right-hand man, Leslie is the person
to whom all creatures academic re
port.
Dr. Gayle Price, the new asso
ciate provost for schools describes
Leslie as “infinitely patient.”
Professor of religion Dr. Kent
Blevins calls him “unflappable.”
“Ben Leslie has spent his life
in the academy and understands
and appreciates the importance of
academic freedom in the pursuit of
truth,” Blevins said.
When he’s not guiding the vmi-
versity to academic excellence,
Leslie and his wife, Kathy, are un
packing their lives, still boxed up
from moving into a newly built
house, and getting settled in Boil
ing Springs.
They met at Stamford Univer
sity when he was 22 years old and
majoring in religious studies. He
proposed to her under the fireworks
on the Fourth of July, and they got
married the following June.
The freshly graduated Les
lie was gearing up for a career in
ministry (for which he’s licensed),
so shortly after their marriage, the
couple went to graduate school at
the Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary, and when the Leslies
moved to Louisville, it was in pur
suit of the pulpit.
There was just one thing stand
ing in the way of his career as a Bap
tist minister: stage fnght. Leslie’s
fear of an audience was crippling,
and it didn’t mix well with the re
sponsibilities he would assume as a
church leader.
But everything changed when
he was assigned to give a lecture to
his seminary colleagues.
“[It was] only through sheer
repetition and help of fellow pro
fessors and students that I could
not only do it, but enjoy the job of
preaching,” he says.
He started laying the ground
work to become a professor and de
cided he should do that groundwork
someplace interesting.
He completed a Master of The
ology degree at Baptist Theologi
cal Seminary in Ruschlikon, Swit
zerland, and a Doctor of Theology
degree at the University of Zurich,
Switzerland.
He lived amongst students from
Europe, Asia and Africa, mixing
with people of many cultures and
languages. Into this diverse envi
ronment his daughters Mary Kath
erine and Elizabeth were bom.
Through 1983-90, he traveled
all over Europe with his family,
making fiiends he still keeps in
touch with over the World Wide
Web. He remembers most fondly
the times in the dining hall at the
universities, breaking bread with
students he never would have oth
erwise known.
Upon his retum to the United
States, he went to work as a pro
fessor at North American Baptist
Seminary in Sioux Falls, S.D. He
taught theology and ethics, and be
fore long became a dean, a transi
tion that proved trying for him.
“Teaching has its challenges,
but it’s a powerfiilly affirming vo
cation,” he says.
The gratitude that students show
is well worth the effort, according
to Leslie. Administration, on the
other hand, involves a great deal of
problem-solving.
“You have to work harder to the
find the joy because it comes at the
end of projects,” he said. “It’s rare
Dr. Ben Leslie
that there is a decision made that
everyone is happy with.”
Despite the challenges, Leslie is
affirmed by his work.
“This is a great place to work,”
Leslie said. “Gardner-Webb, in my
opinion, is truly Christian...in the
sense that Christian values and rela
tions do guide the way we conduct
ourselves on a day-to-day basis. I
know we’re not perfect...but I traly
see here a caring culture.”
As provost, Leslie has assumed
a long line of responsibilities: hir
ing faculty, assessing the academic
prograrns, overseeing the registrar’s
office, and managing the budget.
The GOAL program, technology
services, and the library operations
also report to him.
Even with all these powerful
responsibilities, he is anj^hing but
power-hungry.
“I think the most important thing
about him, from a faculty mem
ber’s perspective, is that he came to
Gardner-Webb with an attitude of
becoming a leader and not a
boss,” says Dr. David Yelton, a
professor of history.
Leslie is at the center of a “pro
vost trinity” consisting of Price and
Dr. James Dire, associate provost of
arts and sciences.
“I am amazed at the speed and
thoroughness with which he edu
cated himself about all the different
areas of Gardner-Webb,” said Price,
“including pertinent history as well
as details of the present and plans
for the future.”
When he’s not occupied with
provost duties, Lesilie can be found
reading a novel, tinkering with
computers (one of his favorite hob
bies), and dreaming of his next ex
perience abroad—which he hopes
will be to Italy or Japan.
Blevins hopes students will take
time to get to know Leslie.
“I think they will find, as have
I, that Gardner-Webb is blessed to
have him as a part of our family,”
he said.