The 2018-19 Advance Team played host to several guest speakers who appeared on Furman’s campus during the school year, including Anthony Ray Hinton, author of The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row which was written after Hinton spent thirty years on death row for a crime he did not commit, Whit Ayres, a leading Washington, D.C. political consultant, Peter Hart, a leading shaper of national trends and top analyst of public opinion, and Jessica Taylor, the Senate and Governors Editor for The Cook Political Report.
Additionally, the Advance Team was presented the Diversity Award by the Student Diversity Council (SDC). Each year, the SDC presents a Diversity Award to a Furman organization not affiliated with the council who has supported “the mission of spreading awareness around issues minorities, and diverse population faces in our community.”
In regards to the selection process for the award Muhammad Zakaria, the President of SDC communicated the following: “The process is every SDC organization nominates an organization and then the council gets together to vote on it. This year, all SDC organizations including the council executives nominated the Riley Advance Team. There has never been in our history a more unanimous consensus on which organization should win this award.”
2018-19 Advance Team Members
Class of 2018
Katherine West
Edgewood, KY
Politics and International Affairs
Class of 2019
Jack Ligon
2018-19 Advance Team Leader
Atlanta, GA
Politics and International Affairs
Eric Faidley
Johnson City, TN
Politics and International Affairs, Accounting
Imani Grace-King
Greenville, SC
Politics and International Affairs
Kevin Hills
Camp Hill, PA
Politics and International Affairs, History
Kristen Rafuse
Atlanta, GA
Politics and International Affairs, French
Michael Robertson
Charlotte, NC
Politics and International Affairs
Sabrina Roof
Fort Mill, SC
Politics and International Affairs
Shannon Short
Hilton Head, SC
Politics and International Affairs
Hannah Warren
Lexington, KY
Politics and International Affairs
Jay Watson
Columbia, SC
Politics and International Affairs
Class of 2020
Johnny Aluri
Greenville, SC
Politics and International Affairs
Frazier Beall
Lutherville Timonium, MD
Politics and International Affairs
Nate Bilodeau
Mechanicsville, VA
Politics and International Affairs, Philosophy
Becca Colehower
Atlanta, GA
Politics and International Affairs, Communication Studies
Davis Cousar
Anderson, SC
Politics and International Affairs, Economics
Kenia Flores
Charlotte, NC
Politics and International Affairs
Grace Heaton
Aiken, SC
Politics and International Affairs, Accounting
Shekinah Lightner
Rock Hill, SC
Politics and International Affairs, Economics
Hanna Perry
Greenville, SC
Politics and International Affairs
Alexis Wood
Fort Mill, SC
Politics and International Affairs
Emily Zeytoonjian
Wellesley, MA
Politics and International Affairs
Class of 2021
Albert Davis
Columbia, SC
Politics and International Affairs
Tyler Lininger
High Point, NC
Politics and International Affairs, History
Maddy Lock
Reston, VA
Politics and International Affairs, Sociology
Devin O’Connor
Rockville, MD
Politics and International Affairs, History
Diana Oxner
Greenville, SC
Politics and International Affairs, History