(For the month of November, in conjunction with the NCAA's Diversity Campaign, we'll be highlighting the stories of some of our minority student-athletes to allow our community to get to know them better.)

Sophomore men's soccer forward C Van Than has had a fairly unique path to Geneva College.  Originally born in Burma, his family arrived in the United States in 2010 as refugees by way of Malaysia, looking to make a better life.  His life has experienced a series of twists and turns that eventually led him to Geneva where he is now in his second year, majoring in accounting.

C Van's father left Burma for Malaysia when he was just two years old.  His father found better work in Malaysia and felt he could support his family more easily working there.  Because of that, C Van only spent time with his father on the brief occasions his dad returned home for a visit.

In 2007, C Van's father was offered the opportunity to apply for the chance to take his family to the United States as refugees.  Than's mother packed up C Van and his two other siblings and made the trip to join their father in Malaysia.  The trip took almost four months to navigate, with the group staying with friends and family along the way.  Once they finally arrived in Malaysia, the process of being accepted as refugees took almost two years to complete.  It wasn't until 2010 that the family was finally given the clearance to travel to the United States, where the family ultimately settled in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The adjustment for the family was challenging early on, as no one spoke any English.  There were several other refugees in the Charlotte area, some from a similar area in Burma, and their presence helped the Than family adjust more quickly.  A month after arriving in the United States, C Van started school in the fourth grade.  His English as a Second Language class was an important part of his transition process, not just for the language he was learning, but also for the teacher he had.  His ESL teacher came to be an important figure in his life.  She had a son that played soccer that was the same age as C Van, and it was through that connection that C Van joined a local recreation league playing soccer.  She would often make sure C Van, who played on the same team as her son, had what he needed to play soccer, and she helped make sure he had a ride to the games and practices.

Over the next few years, C Van began to excel at soccer, playing on both a club team and his school team.  It was through his club team that C Van got connected with Geneva.  His club team's coach attended Messiah College, where Head Coach Gary Dunda also attended, and it was through that alumni connection that Coach Dunda learned of C Van and began to recruit him, along with his teammate and friend, another refugee, Ah Sang.

However, while C Van had a strong interest in Geneva, both for its soccer as well as its Christian education, finances were an issue.  He was going to require a host family in Beaver Falls to make things work, and that didn't happen immediately.  In fact, C Van had decided that he was likely to give up soccer and attend a local community college in North Carolina when, three days before Geneva's school year began, he got a call saying there was a host family available to allow both C Van and Ah to attend Geneva.

"Coach Dunda just kept telling me to keep praying that God would provide a host family for me," says Than.  "Then three days before it was too late, God answered."

That late blessing created a blur of days in which C Van hurried to get things packed and traveled to Beaver Falls.  The early weeks and months were an adjustment for him, being away from his family for the first time.  He had to regain his fitness for soccer, and he also had to settle in and get comfortable in his new surroundings.

However, C Van did begin to feel at home, and by the end of his first season on the team, he was seeing regular playing time, scoring once at Bethany.  This year he feels much more comfortable in his surroundings and his place on the team, and, according to Coach Dunda, that comfort level has been apparent in his play during practice this fall.

"It was hard at first to be away from home," adds Than.  "Not being around my family, and just the college environment where you have a different place to go home to at night.  But the guys on the team have been so welcoming.  They're so friendly, and they care about me.  It was really easy to blend in and be part of the team.  I really love it here."


Geneva College is a Christ-centered academic community that provides a comprehensive education to equip students for faithful and fruitful service to God and neighbor. Offering over 145 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. Geneva is included on Kiplinger's Personal Finance's "2019 Best College Values" list and has one of the top undergraduate engineering programs in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report. Adhering to the truth of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God's Word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today's world.