About Outcasts United
The Book
Be a part of Ranger Read. All new incoming first year students are invited to read and discuss the book Outcasts United. Ranger Read participants read the book over the summer and have the opportunity to begin discussing the book online and continue the discussion at Ranger Welcome.
Outcasts United by Warren St. John is the story of a refugee soccer team, a remarkable woman coach and a small southern town turned upside down by the process of refugee resettlement.
In the 1990s, that town, Clarkston, Georgia, became a resettlement center for refugees from war zones in Liberia, Congo, Sudan, Iraq and Afghanistan. The town also became home to Luma Mufleh, an American-educated Jordanian woman who founded a youth soccer team to help keep Clarkston’s boys off the streets. These boys named themselves the Fugees -- short for refugees.
Outcasts United follows a pivotal season in the life of the Fugees, their families and their charismatic coach as they struggle to build new lives in a fading town overwhelmed by change. Theirs is a story about resilience, the power of one person to make a difference and the daunting challenge of creating community in a place where people seem to have little in common.
"An uplifting tale celebrating the most old-fashioned of virtues: hard work, self-discipline, regard for others." - The Washington Post
The Author
Warren St. John has written for the New York Observer, The New Yorker, Wired and Slate, in addition to his work as a reporter for The New York Times. His first book, Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer: A Journey into the Heart of Fan Mania (2004), was 
named one of Sports Illustrated’s best books of the year, and ranked number one on The Chronicle of Higher Education's list of the best books ever written about collegiate athletics. His second book, Outcasts United: An American Town, A Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference was published in the U.S. in April 2009, and subsequently in the U.K., The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Japan and China. St. John was born in Birmingham, Alabama, where he attended The Altamont School. He studied English literature at Columbia College in New York City, where he now lives with his wife and daughter.
First Year Experience invites incoming students to read and discuss Outcasts United over the summer and at Ranger Welcome. Ranger Read builds community in our incoming class of students by providing a shared experience, shared language, and a basis for deep, meaningful conversations. Reflecting about a book in this way places academic engagement--teaching and learning--at the very center of the community we are asking students to join. And it allows all of us to think, talk, and learn together across and beyond the boundaries of any single classroom.
Participation
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