Correction appended.

The University community has moved swiftly to assist Mangok Bol MS '13, an academic administrator at the University who arrived in the U.S. in 2001 as one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, as he travels to South Sudan to search for his nieces and nephew who were abducted amid ethnic violence. Bol recently learned that his brother and sister-in-law were among those murdered in their village of Kolnyang as a result of the ethnic violence in South Sudan, and that their children-three daughters and a son-were abducted. University faculty and staff have reached out to governmental and media contacts and collectively raised almost $30,000 to fund his search and to support his nieces and nephew.

Bol's background
Bol arrived in Boston as a refugee of a civil war in Sudan that left thousands of children displaced or orphaned. Prof. Ellen Schattschneider (ANTH), explained in an interview with the Justice that the University first hired Bol to administer the graduate programs in Cultural Production and Global Studies. Today, Bol administers the Mandel Center for the Humanities and the International and Global Studies program. He also received his Master's degree in finance from the International Business School in 2013, according to a July 9, 2013 BrandeisNOW article.

David Chanoff Ph.D. '74, a board member of South Sudanese Enrichment for Families who has known Bol since 2001, explained in an interview with the Justice that the murders that took place in Bol's village of Kolmyang stem from long-standing violence between the Dinka and the Nuer ethnic groups, who have raided each other's cattle for hundreds of years. He explained that the third ethnic group that lives in the area, the Murle, have been known to abduct children. "The Murle live a little bit farther away and they also have engaged in cattle raiding, but one of their trademarks has been abduction of women and children, ... So every time there are child abductions, it seems that that is perpetrated by young men from Murle, and that has been going on for a long time," Chanoff said. Bol is a member of the Dinka ethnic group.

Chanoff explained in an interview with the Justice that many of the Lost Boys, who were resettled in the U.S. from Sudan as displaced or orphaned refugees in 2000 and 2001, had returned to Sudan to visit their families. Bol, however, had not attempted to do so until this past Christmas vacation.

However, Bol could travel no farther than Nairobi, Kenya, as the ethnic violence intensified near the time of his flight and precluded his arrival in South Sudan. Bol's current trip to Sudan is, therefore, his first time returning to Sudan since he arrived in the U.S. as a refugee in 2001, according to Chanoff. Prof. Chandler Rosenberger (IGS) estimated that Bol would be absent from the University for three weeks in total.

Bol's time in South Sudan
While he has been in South Sudan, contact has been sporadic, according to Schattschneider. She mentioned the difficulty in hearing regularly from Bol, although added that he has not yet located his nieces and nephews. "[I]t's very hard to stay in regular contact because cell phone coverage is very bad. Email is nonexistent. He has been able to call David Chanoff of SSEF I believe now twice and give him brief updates. And so far, no breakthroughs," said Schattschneider in an interview with the Justice.

Chanoff said that Bol is heavily involved in the SSEF, an organization dedicated to supporting the South Sudanese community in Massachusetts, as a co-chair and treasurer of the board and is a "leader" of the local South Sudanese community. Chanoff estimated that there are about 300 Sudanese in the Boston area, largely in the cities of Malden and Everett, comprising the original Lost Boys, their spouses and children. All of these residents have been impacted by the violence in South Sudan, according to Chanoff. "[A]lmost everybody here has suffered losses, and sometimes very dramatic losses," he said.

Response from the community
University administrators, faculty, staff and students have all mobilized to provide assistance to Bol during his travels. Senior Vice President for Communication Ellen de Graffenreid wrote in an email to the Justice that the University contacted Kevin Cullen at the Boston Globe "to write the story about Mangok's family's tragedy." De Graffenreid wrote that the University also provided "official letters of affiliation" signed by University President Frederick Lawrence for Bol to use for travel. "[T]hese can be important for gaining assistance in Africa. In addition, President Lawrence's office funded Mangok's travel expenses, as this is indeed an extraordinary situation," wrote de Graffenreid.

De Graffenreid wrote in her email that she has also been in contact with the staff of Reps. Katherine Clark, D-MA, and Mike Capuano, D-MA, the latter being the representative for Bol's home district. "The staffs in these offices reached out to the U.S. State Department officials both in Washington, D.C. and in Africa (South Sudan has been evacuated but there are still U.S. diplomats in adjoining nations), to non-governmental organizations on the ground in South Sudan, and to diplomatic contacts," she wrote. De Graffenreid also wrote that the office of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power reached out to Bol and have "been assisting him in making contacts who may be able to assist in locating the abducted children."

Faculty have also been able to leverage connections to support Bol. Rosenberger said in an interview with the Justice that he reached out to the Reuters correspondent at the United Nations about Bol's story. "[I] asked him to publicize it at the UN and to share the story among people at the UN, and as far as I know, he did," said Rosenberger.

Rosenberger also mentioned that Prof. Harleen Singh (GRALL) was able to reach out to contacts at the United Nations on Bol's behalf. Singh declined to comment for this article. De Graffenreid wrote that Prof. Ramie Targoff (ENG), the Jehuda Reinharz director of the Mandel Center for the Humanities, has also been highly supportive of Bol in his journey. Targoff was unable to comment on her involvement by press time.

An online fundraiser to support Bol has raised $29,389 from 455 faculty, staff, students and friends as of press time. Donations on the site ranged from five dollars to an anonymous $1,500 gift over 17 days of fundraising. The fundraiser's organizer, Hannah Kahl of Oakland, Calif., wrote in an email to the Justice that she met Bol at the University of New Hampshire, where they were both students, and that he approached her to set up the fundraiser. "He knew he would be very busy and away from [I]nternet while traveling," she wrote.

Sudan teach-in
Schattschneider organized and moderated a teach-in on Monday evening in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium to explore the origins and future of the current conflict in South Sudan. The teach-in featured a panel of both Sudanese individuals and University scholars. Dawn Schrepel, a political adviser at the United States Mission to the United Nations, joined the teach-in via live video.

De Graffenreid spoke briefly on behalf of Lawrence, who is currently traveling, saying that this event helps "show Mangok Bol that he is not alone." Schattschneider also arranged for Bol to call in to the teach-in, where he received applause from the gathered attendees and thanked the Brandeis community for their support.

Chanoff, one of the panelists, emphasized to the audience the importance of community, saying "the Brandeis community has been a leader in the country in welcoming and integrating the South Sudanese Lost Boy refugees. ... It is our business to support the Sudanese who are here and so that they can help support the Sudanese that are there [in South Sudan]. We are connected with them."

At this time, Bol is in South Sudan and is following leads to search for his abducted nieces and nephews.  

Editor's Note: The online version of this article has been updated with the correct name of  organization with which David Chanoff and Mangok Bol are affiliated.  It is South Sudanese Enrichment for Families, not Sudanese Education Enrichment for Families.