{"id":394322,"date":"2019-09-03T14:34:17","date_gmt":"2019-09-03T18:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=394322"},"modified":"2019-09-03T14:34:17","modified_gmt":"2019-09-03T18:34:17","slug":"football-acting-and-activism-spur-this-south-florida-native-394322","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/football-acting-and-activism-spur-this-south-florida-native-394322\/","title":{"rendered":"Football, acting, and activism spur this South Florida native"},"content":{"rendered":"

James Bentayou \u201923 is always on the go, whether he\u2019s playing football, acting in a Lifetime movie, attending the theater, skimboarding, or playing paintball. He was \u201cspirit commissioner\u201d at his South Florida high school, preparing pep rallies months in advance, and served in a youth congressional cabinet with US Representative Ted Deutch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to stay active,\u201d Bentayou says.<\/p>\n

The Coconut Creek, Florida, native brings that same energy to the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½<\/a>, where he plans to major in political science, play running back for the varsity football team, take theater classes, and participate in student government.<\/p>\n

\n

\"students<\/p>\n

Meet the Class of 2023<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

They come from 44 states and 65 countries. Twenty percent are the first in their family to attend college. Welcome to Rochester, Class of 2023.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Bentayou first became interested in Rochester when he was approached as a strong potential scholar-athlete by the Yellowjackets\u2019 defensive coordinator Chris Sapp. \u201cI came up for a visit and fell in love with the campus, the open curriculum, and the people here,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He started playing football in ninth grade, but it was more pastime than passion until his senior year. \u201cWe played our rival, Key West, and I just fell in love with it during that game,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s when I knew I wanted to play in college.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was the lead in the school play and acted in local commercials. Two years ago, he landed a small role in a Lifetime movie. \u201cI played the boyfriend of the daughter whose mom gets kidnapped,\u201d he says of his role in the film, Girlfriend Killer<\/em>. \u201cMy coaches called me \u2018Movie Star\u2019 for that one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bentayou hopes to play another role in real life\u2014social activist. His high school, North Broward Preparatory School, is seven miles from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 people were killed in a mass shooting on February 14, 2018. Bentayou was a junior at the time, and the tragedy affected him deeply.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have friends who lost sisters, and friends who lost their friends,\u201d he says. \u201cI saw how it impacted a community, and I realized that politics matter. I want to be involved in politics and have a say in how we fix this problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bentayou has many goals as he begins college life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want good grades,\u201d he says. \u201cI want 1,000 rushing yards in a football season. And I want people on campus to remember me as someone who was very involved in the Rochester community, a leader who always had positive spirits, trying to get people to come to school events. I want to really make an impact on the community here.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Bentayou \u201923 hopes Rochester will become a place where he can combine his interest in acting, politics, and football. \u201cI want people on campus to remember me.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":672,"featured_media":394622,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[9776,36732,21462,16072],"class_list":["post-394322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","tag-athletics","tag-class-of-2023","tag-department-of-political-science","tag-school-of-arts-and-sciences"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFootball, acting, and activism spur this South Florida native<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"James Bentayou \u201923 hopes Rochester will become a place where he can combine his interest in acting, politics, and football.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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