Last year, Ethan Zohn made $1 million in a month in one of the most impoverished places in the world. Wednesday he’ll be at Mississippi State University telling of his experience and how he hopes to give back to the people of that disease-stricken land.
Zohn was the winner of the third season of CBS’s “Survivor” television show. Once a professional soccer player, he is now a philanthropist, spreading a message of AIDS awareness and personal character on college campuses across the United States.
Zohn will speak Wednesday night at 7 in the Humphrey Coliseum.
He is best known for being the modest guy who proved that nice guys can finish first on “Survivor: Africa.”
Zohn will share a message of selflessness, encouraging students to get ahead in life while maintaining their integrity.
Kelly Nesbit, the assistant director of the Campus Activities Board, is one of the people responsible for bringing Zohn to MSU.
“He has a message,” Nesbit said. “He has something more than just his experiences on TV.”
After winning Survivor Africa, Zohn took his $1 million prize and invested in Grass Roots Soccer, a non-profit organization based in Zimbabwe. The group aims at providing HIV and AIDS education to African children.
“I knew I only had 15 minutes of fame, so I wanted to be sure I did something good with it,” Zohn said in a press release.
“Not only is he someone with name recognition, he will bring a great message to the students of MSU,” Nesbit said.
Zohn is originally from Lexington, Mass. and currently resides in New York City. Zohn attended Vassar College, where he graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology.
He has played professional soccer for teams in Zimbabwe, Massachusetts and Hawaii. He is also a former soccer coach for the Men’s and Women’s teams at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey.
In addition to playing soccer, Zohn has worked freelance as a brand name strategist/developer, responsible for creating names for newly invented products.
Zohn is using his newfound fame and background in soccer to educate African children because many of them look up to professional soccer players. Life expectancy in Africa has decreased 38 percent in the last 10 years due to the that the life expectancy has decreased 38-percent in the last ten years.
Zohn said his belief in the importance of personal character is the reason he won Survivor: Africa.
“At one point in the game, I realized I’m going to win this thing using my character,” Zohn said in the press release.
Other sponsors include the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the Panhellenic Council and the Interfraternity Council.
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