Local Student Matthew Grosjean Making Global Difference

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Matthew Grosjean of Ellington (left) and Ryan Henowitz of Uncasville (second from right) interview participants at the 2010 Third Age Olympiad in Serbia.

WILLIMANTIC, CT (01/06/2011)(readMedia)-- Eastern Connecticut State University political science and economics major Matthew Grosjean, a senior from Ellington, is answering the call to serve humanity.

In July 2010, Grosjean attended the International Student Week in Belgrade, Serbia, as one of only two Americans invited to the activism conference. The one-week student festival fo-cused on the question, "Do we tolerate intolerance?", and hosted workshops ranging from human rights to marketing, youth activism and environmental protection.

During the conference, Grosjean and fellow Eastern student Jordan Lorrius performed at an MTV concert attended by more than 15,000 people. "Jordan and I played the Red Hot Chili Peppers' song, 'Under the Bridge,' before we left the stage," said Grosjean. "The band that fol-lowed - KKN - dedicated one of their songs to us, saying, 'Here in Belgrade, we were all kids under the bridge,' referring to the NATO bombings in 1999. It was a really special moment."

The students also attended the Third Age Olympiad, an exhibition of health and wellness and the arts that took place Sept. 29–Oct. 3 in Soko Banja. Ryan Henowitz '11, a political science major from Uncasville, helped them document the Olympiad. People they interviewed at the Third Age Olympiad included retired NBA star Vlade Divac, prominent humanitarian and president of the Serbian Olympic Committee.

After returning to Eastern, Grosjean has continued his activism efforts through the band, The Phantoms, which he, Lorrius and several other friends formed over the summer. "Our songs carry messages ranging from love and relationships to society and how it makes people do what they do," said Grosjean.

The United Nations will feature The Phantoms in its Arts for Peace initiative in early 2011. This initiative, which involves open-source technology so that musicians from around the world can play together over the Internet in real time, hosts salons in which different musicians perform to promote a culture of peace and to support the arts. The Phantoms will collaborate with the United Nations in January by traveling to Haiti to help with relief efforts. The Arts for Peace initiative will dedicate its Jan. 29 salon to The Phantoms and the band members' music, youth initiative and their research in Serbia and Haiti.