Lance Cpl. Eric P. Valdepeñas never had a chance to graduate from the University of Massachusetts. Valdepeñas, a marine who put his studies on hold to serve his country, was killed when a roadside bomb exploded near him one year ago this month.
A new scholarship under Valdepeñas's name will allow him to symbolically finish what he started at UMass, said his sister, Karen Ing.
"I know he wanted to go back once he came back from Iraq and hit the books again," said Ing, "but he wasn't able to do that."
The "Lance Corporal Eric Paul Valdepeñas Scholarship" will be awarded to one Isenberg School of Management student every year. The student must display the same traits that Valdepeñas once did as a student.
A native of Seekonk, Mass., Valdepeñas was a 21-year-old sophomore at UMass when his unit was called up in December 2005, and he was deployed to Iraq. A member of the 1st Battalion, 25th Marines, weapons company, and a machine gunner, Valdepeñas was killed on Sept. 4, 2006 while on patrol in the Al Anbar Province.
Since Valdepeñas was never able to return to Amherst, Ing said the scholarship was later created "to carry out what he couldn't finish."
The scholarship was spearheaded by J. Brian Palmer, a UMass alumnus and co-worker of Ing. When Palmer first heard that Valdepeñas had been killed in battle, he said he was deeply affected.
Over time, Palmer began coming up with ideas to honor Valdepeñas and his service to the country. Eventually, with the help of Ing, Palmer created the scholarship and committed $36,000 to it.
"I'm pretty proud that someone like that would go to UMass," said Palmer, of North Grafton. "He's a real heroic kid and supporting the University financially, it seemed like the perfect fit."
White Mountains Insurance Group, where Palmer works as the Chief Financial Officer, has also committed $4,000 in matching funds for the scholarship. Applicants for the scholarship must be someone who "actively participates in the community, demonstrates good character and has a documented financial need," states a press release.
Palmer said anyone applying most likely will also have to submit an essay that family members of Valdepeñas would read. Ing said other family members also attended UMass.
"Above all, Brian is honoring Eric's own sense of honor," said Lou Wigdor, a spokesman for the School of Management. Wigdor said the scholarship will kick in this spring and will be awarded to one student per year.
Although the scholarship is being offered to SOM students, Valdepeñas was an engineering major while attending UMass. When composing the scholarship, Ing said the main objective was to build it around the type of person Valdepeñas was.
"Really what we did was we based the scholarship around what embodied Eric," said Ing, "in terms of being a good person, a good moral character, someone who liked to do a lot of volunteer work."
Palmer said he was impressed with Valdepeñas's courageous decision to leave school and serve in the military. Valdepeñas's unit was scheduled to return about a month after he was killed.
"I think what made it difficult and probably a little more touching in a way was that he was so young," said Palmer. "He put himself in harm's way for something he believed in. To me, it just made sense to set up a scholarship honoring that type of dedication."
Be the first to comment on this article!