Success! UVA’s Champion Basketball Team Declines Visit to White House

Care2′s Lacey Kohlmoos, a University of Virginia alumna, was thrilled when her basketball team won the NCAA basketball championship last month. After all, it wasn’t just any win. The Cavaliers and the Red Raiders were tied after regulation, but the Cavs outscored the Texas Tech team 17 – 9 during overtime. This was also the UVA team’s first national title.

Kohlmoos was less thrilled when she realized that the Cavaliers would be invited to celebrate at the White House, a place that currently represents fear-mongering and white supremacy. 

She explains:

“The University of Virginia is a place where honesty, integrity and respect are valued. President Trump has shown time and again that he does not share those same values. The UVA and Charlottesville communities are still healing from the tragedy of what we experienced in 2017, and I didn’t want the person whom I believe was partly responsible for what happened to have any part in celebrating our historic victory.”

So Kohlmoos created a Care2 petition, asking the UVA team not to accept the White House invitation. 

“As Care2’s Organizing Strategist, I felt that it was my duty as a UVA alumna to use the tools that I have at my fingertips each day to make this important statement by putting up a petition,” Kohlmoos told me.

Her petition garnered over 15,000 supporters, many from UVA students and alums, but also from Care2 members across the globe, including those in India, Brazil, Japan and Spain.

SUCCESS!

Within just a couple of weeks, the University of Virginia’s basketball team announced their decision not to visit the White House. 

A huge thank you to Kohlmoos and to all the Care2 activists who signed her petition.

The Cavaliers are not the only sports team to decline an invitation to the White House. In 2018, most members of the Philadelphia Eagles declined their invitation after winning the Superbowl, which prompted Trump to withdraw the invite. In basketball, the Golden State Warriors won the NBA finals in 2017; they were about to decline their invite, when Trump chose to rescind it. Presumably because Trump bears grudges, the team did not receive an invitation when they repeated their victory in 2018.

For Kohlmoos, her petition was a no-brainer:

Care2 provides a platform where we can quickly spread the word, raise awareness, and gather tens of thousands of people together to stand united against the forces that threaten to tear our country apart.

Her story is a great example of how real people can use petitions to bring activists together and create positive change in their communities and in the world.

Inspired by this success? Why not create your own petition about an issue that concerns you? Begin by checking out these guidelines and soon you’ll find the dynamic Care2 community signing up to support you!