Fairfield University students were overwhelmingly sympathetic toward the story of Sharon Hoey, ’04, who lost her father, Patrick A. Hoey, in the World Trade Center attacks and was not granted the memorial scholarship.
Students were quick to criticize Fairfield’s policy.
“Messed up,” was the first thing that came to the mind of Steve Reno, ’05. Without hesitation he emphasized his convictions with, “really, really messed up. She should’ve gotten it.”
While the scholarship honors those who lost parents on Sept. 11, it has two further restrictions; the student must have been accepted to Fairfield University through the “normal admission process” and the student “must show financial need as determined by federal aid guidelines.” According to these guidelines, Hoey did not show enough financial need.
Individuals questioned the purpose of the scholarship if it failed to honor its primary purpose. “That [loss of a parent] should come before whether she needs, need-based or not,” said Ryan Jessel, ’05.
Still one student agreed with the school’s decision. “Honestly,” said Jack Becht, ’06, “the scholarships are granted to help those who are in need of financial assistance. The government has succeeded in facilitating those needs, therefore I don’t believe the student ought to be given financial assistance from the school.”
Though disagreement did arise on very rare occasions, there was on overall compassionate response to Hoey’s situation.
“I don’t think it’s fair that she wasn’t included because she made too much money,” said Andrea Vavasour ’05.
But as Sharon Hoey was quoted in last week’s article, “I don’t want the money, I’ll burn it,” students recognized the sensitivity of the subject matter in greater terms than monetary equivalency.
“Regardless of the fact that she received money from other sources, no price tag can be placed on the anguish and grief she experienced by losing a loved one,” said Rodriguez.
From a moral standpoint students disagreed with the ruling.
“I think it was wrong,” said Lou Spadaro ’06.
Due largely in part to last week’s front page article, “Only student to lose parent on 9/11 denied scholarship,” the Mirror had a record-breaking 9,000 online hits and 4,000 copies distributed.
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