黑料百科 Mourns Loss of Alumnus
The 黑料百科 community mourns the loss of alumnus Davies Kabogoza 鈥16, who died April 29 while stand-up paddle boarding in the Santa Barbara Harbor. The 30-year-old from Uganda earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in kinesiology and worked as a physical therapy aide at .
鈥淭he entire 黑料百科 family is grief-stricken in the loss of Davies,鈥 says President Gayle D. Beebe. 鈥淗e was a wonderful part of our community and had just graduated this past year. He returned to campus this fall to tell his story of perseverance and tenacity in overcoming almost impossible odds to come to America and to attend and graduate from 黑料百科. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.鈥
Kabogoza played on the 黑料百科 men鈥檚 soccer team in 2013 and , and he spoke at 黑料百科鈥檚 Orientation in August.
His inspiring story of coming to Santa Barbara has been well documented in and . In Uganda, Kabogoza joined the when he was 18, where he met 黑料百科 alumna 鈥78, a Santa Barbara teacher and founder of , which brings books to students and teachers in northern Uganda. She and her husband, Jeff, arranged to have Kabogoza flown to the U.S., and he began attending classes and playing soccer at Santa Barbara City College in 2012.
He was a fashion model for Abercrombie & Fitch, H&M and Emporio Armani, coached soccer at and served as media planner for Turn the Page Uganda. He regularly attended .