MAXIMILIANO ACOSTA / ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

 The “Torero Go Global” initiative is an immersive program for scholar-athletes at USD   that  paved  the way for  eight student-athletes to be selected for a unique trip to Jamaica. The trip is to support long-term rebuilding and community-strengthening efforts following Hurricane Melissa. This new cohort plans to travel during the upcoming summer from May 25 through June 2. 

  Hurricane Melissa roared through southwest Jamaica on Oct. 28 as a category five Atlantic hurricane with sustained winds of up to 185 mph.  A category five hurricane is the worst possible class and is considered catastrophic. It was  one of the strongest hurricanes on record for Jamaica and for the whole Atlantic basin.  

  Hurricane Melissa caused extreme damage and had a significant death toll. 

Though initial reports varied, death  tolls in Jamaica estimated around  45 people, with 15 people considered missing and hundreds of thousands injured and displaced. Authorities reported that around 100,000 structures were damaged, leaving thousands without homes. 

  Jamaica wasn’t the only country affected in the Caribbean: Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and parts of the Bahamas were destroyed.  

   In June, the Global Center in Mother  Rosalie  Hill  Hall   hosted a 20-year anniversary celebration to honor its partnership with the community of Duncans. 

  The Duncans are a small  coastal  community of local schools, community centers and families who have partnered with USD students since 2006.  

  So far, hundreds of USD students have traveled and engaged in community-based learning, school-based service and economic projects with the Duncans.

 An Instagram post by “ToreroEdge”  featured USD junior Nemo Beach from the women’s volleyball team who will be traveling with the cohort this summer. Beach described what serving in Jamaica means to her.

  “I love learning as well as doing a service to my community and different communities,” Beach said. “It helps because I have family from Jamaica, and it’s basically my community as well. I want to learn how to help in service with my athletic community and my family’s community.”

    In an article published by USD, Angella Stewart, one of the directors of the Jamaican international program, described their close relationship with USD.

   “Over the years, the program has evolved into more than just another study abroad program,” Stewart said. “To myself and the community, the  University of San Diego has become our family.”

  Around thirty students applied, only eight were selected. USD sophomore and member of the men’s soccer team, Mathi Bauer was one of the applicants that stuck out and is now planning to travel. Bauer explained that the cohort was  already planning to go, but   it  just  happened that there was a Hurricane that erupted. 

  “It’s going to be kind of a freestyle trip because we don’t really know what to expect,” Bauer said. “There’s no chance everything we’re going to do is by plan. We go there, see what we find, and then we take it from there. At the end of the day, when we travel back from Jamaica, I just want to look back and be proud of what we did and know we left a mark in Jamaica, that we made their lives a little better.”

  Bauer detailed how when he was younger he valued his role models and he hoped he could do the same for the kids who are passionate about sports in Jamaica.  

   “If you go there as a student-athlete, you know how it is when you talk to kids that are way younger than you,” Bauer said “They see, ‘Oh, you’re playing soccer, you’re playing basketball, you’re playing football,’ and you’re this big, tall guy who’s ten years older. All of a sudden you’re a role model for them, even though I don’t feel like a role model. I feel like that’s something else we have to do as well: stay in touch with some of the people there. Not just go there and disappear after a week — go there and actually make connections with them, with the teenagers or the adults or whoever is there.”

    Although  the trip is not until summer of 2026,     Toreros are excited about the impact they will be able to make on these communities abroad.

USD athletes are going to Jamaica in the summer of 2026. Photo courtesy of @toreroedge / Instagram