NBA player to discuss diversity in professional sports, struggles with Turkey
10/22/2020

​Enes Kanter

A Turkish member of the Boston Celtics National Basketball Association (NBA) team will speak about diversity in professional sports and his struggle with his native country next week as part of a virtual presentation sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point School of Education.

Enes Kanter will present "Man Without a Country: Enes Kanter Fights for Justice" on Tuesday, Oct. 27, from 1-2:30 p.m. via Zoom. The free presentation is open to campus and the public and is limited to the first 500 registrants.

Kanter was invited to speak by School of Education Assistant Professor Uzeyir Ogurlu for his Pluralism for Educators course. The course explores the impact of class, gender, race and language differences on teaching and learning. A native of Turkey, Ogurlu has also been exiled from his native country, where his family still resides. He hopes to help his students learn from the experiences of others.

"People like Enes Kanter are facing unimaginable cruelty in the country just because of their different ideas from the ruling party," said Ogurlu. "By attending, students and community members could understand the importance of freedom of speech in this country and how it would feel being apart from your own country just because of different ideas."

Born in Switzerland of Turkish origin, Kanter was drafted by the Utah Jazz in 2011 and has played for the Celtics since 2019. He was indicted by Turkey in 2018 on charges of belonging to an armed terrorist group, which he denies. He is awaiting U.S. citizenship.

To register, go to https://bit.ly/uwspeneskanter or www.facebook.com/events/354052655912299.

 

 


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