From manager to starter: Harrison Drake’s story of perseverance
Harrison Drake ‘23 recalled the day his coach made his dream come true: “Are you still wanting to be a part of the Mercer basketball team?”
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Harrison Drake ‘23 recalled the day his coach made his dream come true: “Are you still wanting to be a part of the Mercer basketball team?”
At a vigil for late Babatunde “Baba” Agbaje ‘23 on April 11, gatherers had the chance to write a message to the student and his family, as well as to collectively remember him alongside others who knew him. Those who attended were largely upperclassmen who had classes with Agbaje or had played soccer alongside him in his time on the Mercer men’s soccer team.
The Historic Macon Foundation (HMF) held its semi-annual flea market recently, running for three days from March 31 to April 2. The market has been a staple of Macon's yearly calendar of events since it started more than 40 years ago.
Gordon Johnston has long been an avid fan of water and the calming effect it has on him. As a child, he and his family would frequent the Flint and Chattooga Rivers. He said that in college he took a whitewater canoeing class that taught him how to read the current and how to navigate rapids without flipping. Since then he has been hooked, regularly canoeing and kayaking ever since.
Mercer’s baseball team hosted Georgia Southern on Wednesday, March 22, losing 12-11. The team faced the same Georgia Southern team earlier in the season, losing 11-0 in that contest in Statesboro.
Atlanta United has recaptured the attention of Major League Soccer (MLS) behind a sparkling offense and stifling defense. Since they first started playing in 2017, their team was offense-heavy and lightning-quick in transition, scoring goals with regularity not seen anywhere else in MLS. After the 2019 season, however, the team hit a rough patch from which they had not recovered until now.
March Madness carries for Mercer a nostalgic reminder of the eventful day when the #14 Bears stunned the #3 Duke Blue Devils in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Men’s March Madness. To get there, they had to beat the Eagles of Florida Gulf Coast in the A-Sun championship game. Since then, the team has found themselves in the SoCon championship game once, losing to the University of North Carolina-Greensboro (UNCG) in current head coach Greg Gary’s second season.
Mercer sits on the edge of downtown Macon, reaching from College Street to Little Richard Perriman Boulevard to Ash Street in Beall’s Hill. These streets are major downtown connectors for students at Mercer, and they have each been redeveloped in recent years.
The College Town Film Series hosted a triad of movies at the Douglass Theatre in downtown Macon over the past month, one of which was presented jointly by Mercer professors Evey Wilson Wetherbee and Rachel Schaff on Feb. 9. The Film Series has been operated and planned for two decades by Middle Georgia State University professor, Robert Burnham.
Men’s Basketball
Mercer’s Ousman Jabang '23 was selected 75th overall in the Major League Soccer (MLS) SuperDraft, to CF Montréal on Dec. 21, 2022. Jabang has played for the Bears since he signed with the team out of Ola High School in McDonough, Georgia.
As the Mercer women's basketball team progresses through the season, they earned a big win against the University of South Alabama, but not without racking up some losses along the way.
Mercer’s Public Anthropology and Activism class is in the process of finalizing a mural created by Mercer students. The project aims to spark conversations about diversity on campus.
On Nov. 17, the rock band, "Queen," had a rebirth in Macon. The group "One Night of Queen" performed at the Grand Opera House downtown with songs made famous by the internationally renowned British group.
Football
Every goal, touchdown and timeout announcement is vocalized by an announcer invisible to the crowd at Mercer sporting events.
Mercer University prides itself on its ability to teach students how to change the world by developing programs like Mercer On Mission, a focal point of the "Research that Reaches Out" ethos. One Mercer On Mission trip led to Imwe, a small business founded in 2021 that sells bags made in Rwanda to Mercer students.
On Nov. 6, Bike Walk Macon held their second Open Streets Macon event of the year. The event was held on Clayton Street., which connects the Vineville and Pleasant Hill neighborhoods. Residents enjoyed the afternoon sun while painting crosswalks and engaging in other community activities alongside people they might have otherwise known only in passing.
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On Nov. 20, the 2022 World Cup begins in Qatar, though the 2022 tournament has long been blemished by the very country hosting the international competition. The impracticality of the venue and the incorrigible human rights record tied to the construction of the soccer infrastructure are two blatant examples of why Qatar is not deserving of the tournament.