USD Magazine, Winter 2001

FROM LOSS COMES HOPE Lindel Sarclina and Kay Krol1nc have never inc l, yc1 they share a bond clcepcr tl1c1n mos t coulcl ever cornprc l1cncl.

WHERE THE MONEY COMES FROM

USO and Donors ...................$29.03 million

Federal Government..........$3 1.73 million

B oth women lost their sons at a point when everyrhing seems bright and shiny and attain– able - within months of their college graduation. Ir would be understandable if they were to wallow in the pain and sorrow. No one would blame rhem if they became angry. Yet these women and their husbands chose to give others the same hope and promise that their boys shared by creating endowed scholarships at USD in their sons' names - Jeffrey Sardina and Kristopher Krohne. They view their gifts nor so much as a memorial, but as a celebration of spirit, a means of touching others through their sons' lives. "Jeff always liked to help people," says Linda Sardina, who with husband John endowed a scholar– ship shortly after Jeff, 22, was killed in February 1990 when he fell from a La Jolla, Calif., cliff. "Through this scholarship and its recipients, we feel Jeff moving on and living through their lives." Jeff, a 1989 USD graduate with a degree in busi– ness administration, was the fourth of the Sardinas' five boys. An athlete with a love of baseball, he had a quiet sense of humor and a strong sense of ethics, the peacemaker whom friends counted on to be the designated driver during a night on the town. He dreamed of working in the financial industry and traveling the wo rld. Knowing their son's love of USD - his oldest brother John graduated in 1984 - the Sardinas established rhe scholarship to help students who, like Jeff, display a strong sense of ethics and a determina– tion to help others. Yer they did more than offer financial aid. The Sardinas embrace the students selected, inviting them to their Universiry Ciry home for Sunday dinner, exchanging birthday and Christmas cards, writing them letters and e-mails. "I was surprised they were so interested in me," says Eliott Engel, a senior and current recipient of the Jeffrey Sardina scholarship, who plans on attending Oxford to get his master's in philosophical theology. "I don't know too many endowment funds where they have you up to the house for dinner. They made me feel like a son." Shawn McEachem '95, the first student to receive the four-year scholarship, says it wasn't just the money the Sardinas provided that made a difference in his college career. Ir was rhe sense of belonging. "They told me about Jeff, showed me his pictures, let me meet their family, " says McEachem, owner of Inflatable Design Group in San Diego. "Nor only

was ir finan cial support, bur there was a lot of moral support, a lot of loving advice." The Sardinas say they have benefited from rhe scholarship as well. "We're so proud of these boys, and knowing that Jeff helped them means a lot," Linda says. Kay Krohne knows well rhe value of emotional and moral support for college students, especially those involved in the rigorous NROTC program at USD, which trains future Naval military leaders. Kay is the former executive officer of USD's Naval training program, and both she and husband Ted are retired Navy commanders. Their 24-year-old son, Kristopher, was following in their footsteps when he was killed Sept. 6 while piloting a T-37 jet during a training Bight in Oklahoma. Ir was his second solo Bight. "Ted and I talked about what we would do to honor him," Kay says of Kris, who graduated from George Washington Universiry's NROTC program in May. They settled upon an endowed scholarship for an Alcala Park NROTC student based on leader– ship abiliry and academics, as well as a "spirit award" at both USD and George Washington, an engraved sword for a graduating senior who possesses Kris' enthusiasm for life and his determination. "Kris was a very effervescent personaliry," says Kay, whose son planned to attend law school and enter politics after his military career. "He would wear a Hawaiian shirr under his

State Government ............ $5.04 million

Private Sources .......$2.50 million

Total ......................$68.30 million

FINANCIAL AID FACTS 6 8 percent of USO undergrads depend on some form of financial assistance .

The Sardinas and Eliott Engel

Aighr suit, even though he could ger in trouble, just because he liked to make people laugh. 'Tm sure he'd be

very happy about rhe scholarship," adds Kay, who received her doc– torate in leadership from USD in 1992. "Kris felt strongly about serv– ing his country, and I'm sure he'd be proud knowing he helped others who feel the same way."

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WINTER 200 I