Four scholarships tell the story of donors’ positive outlook on Lynn.
Kyle Martin Memorial Endowed Scholarship
For Hospitality Management
Manuela Niño is a Lynn legacy three times over. Her mother was an evening student at Lynn. Her father is also a Lynn graduate, as is her aunt.
But Niño is a legacy student in another special way, too. She is the 2016 recipient of the Kyle Martin Memorial Endowed Scholarship, a legacy scholarship to honor a Lynn student who died long before his time.
“It is really emotional, of course, to have the support of a family honoring their son in this way,” Niño said. “It means so much to me.”
It means a great deal to the Martin family as well, said David Martin, Kyle’s father.
“This scholarship gives us, as a family, another opportunity to remember Kyle and to express our enduring love for him.”
Megan Martin said her brother Kyle would have been thrilled to help students like Niño.
“Kyle still had so much to offer and he was taken much too soon, but in this way his name will live on in the lives of those who receive the scholarship. They will go on to do the things he couldn’t and make an even bigger impact on this world.”
A native of Colombia raised in Delray Beach, Niño is a sophomore studying hospitality management. She is working toward a career as a wedding and corporate event planner, and she has one internship with a bridal stylist under her belt already.
The scholarship, she said, boosted her confidence.
“It gives me a feeling that working hard pays off,” she said.
“Kyle would be quite happy,” Megan Martin said, “to know his name is being used to help someone achieve her dreams.”
The Kenneth and Ruth Feigl Endowed Scholarship
In International Communication
True globetrotters, Ruth and Ken Feigl traveled to 155 countries in their lifetimes.
They believed so strongly in Lynn’s focus on international diversity and connection, they designated $150,000 to ensure its continued influence on future scholars.
The Kenneth and Ruth Feigl Endowed Scholarship will be awarded annually to a student in good standing in the Christine E. Lynn College of International Communication. One of the most popular colleges at Lynn, International Communication includes advertising and public relations, emerging media, digital art and design, drama, multimedia journalism and film, all with the global marketplace in mind.
And that’s why the Feigls felt connected to the program.
“We think the international diversity at Lynn is wonderful,” Ken Feigl said when they established the gift in 2008.
Native New Yorkers who moved to Florida in 1977, the Feigls were active in the Boca community. Ken was a graduate of Bernard Baruch College and an Army veteran of World War II. He was an accountant and businessman with many civic leadership roles, including the Boca Chamber of Commerce and the United Way. Ruth, a graduate of Queens College, was an artist and sculptor who was an avid volunteer for local arts and civic organizations, including the Florence Fuller Child Development Center.
When Ken died, Boca Raton magazine published this line: “Boca Raton is a far better place for the 34 years he lived here.”
Kenneth Feigl passed away in 2011. Ruth Feigl died in 2015.
Their scholarship is a gift to Lynn students in perpetuity.
The Pisani Family Endowed Scholarship
For the Institute for Achievement and Learning
When Hart Pisani graduated in 2015 with a communications degree cum laude, his father Michael Pisani felt two emotions in equal measure: pride and gratitude.
He was proud that Hart had overcome personal challenges over the course of his college career to graduate with near perfect grades.
And he was grateful that the Lynn community had been there for his son while he adjusted to life as a university student.
“Lynn had the resources and trained faculty and staff to recognize Hart’s issues and to effect positive and continued change,” Pisani said. “The Counseling Center’s director Nicole Ovedia personally met with my son on a frequent basis to set goals, formulate strategic plans, review progress and encourage his work toward graduation and success in life.”
To honor Hart’s life-changing Lynn experience and help future students who may face similar difficulties transitioning to college life, the Pisani family donated $50,000 for an endowed scholarship. It will be given to deserving students recommended by the Institute for Achievement and Learning.
“It was an easy choice,” Pisani said.
Now living in his hometown of New Orleans, Hart is happy, healthy and on the hunt for a job in broadcasting.
The Alumni Pay It Forward Endowed Scholarship
For first-year students in good academic standing and with expressed financial need
Wayne Jarvis ’96 made an early challenge donation to the Alumni Pay It Forward Endowed Scholarship, inspiring other Lynn graduates to contribute to the fund.
“You never know how a monetary gift will change someone’s life. If you give an extra $200, that could make all the difference for a top chemist or a physician who saves hundreds of lives. It’s exciting to realize you can be part of something that makes society better. You just never know what will come of that donation.”
A graduate of the mortuary program and now operations manager for the country’s largest funeral provider, Jarvis was one of a dozen or so alumni and faculty who made lead gifts to the new scholarship fund. Since planting that first seed, scores of Lynn alumni have added their support. The Class of 2016 gave a gift in perpetuity to help the scholarship fund reach its goal. It was fully endowed at $50,000, but is still growing.
“A lot of our foundation is built by the university we attended. It’s important to help the next generation build the same foundation.”
With more than 62 percent of Lynn students receiving financial support, the need for scholarships cannot be understated, he said.