[Vision2020] Eric McMillan Scholarship Fund

[Debbie Gray]

Press Release

University of Idaho
Moscow, ID 83844
May 2, 2005
Eric McMillan Memorial Scholarship

A scholarship in memory of slain UI student Eric McMillan, who 
died on September 19, 2004, is being created by his English 
instructor, Marcia Kmetz, and Ethnic Literature professor, Jan 
Johnson. Organizers must raise $25,000 to establish the 
scholarship and are asking for donations of $5 from 5,000 
donors.  

An essay Eric wrote the week before his murder reflecting on 
this young life in Oceanside, California inspired the 
scholarship. He lived in this "bottom on high" until he was 12; 
it was a city ruled by drug lords, overrun by crime, and 
devastated by poverty. According to his writing instructor, 
Marcia Kmetz, "many of the young men and women who grew up on 
those streets did not survive them; Eric did. His essay 
demonstrated such strength and such a mature recognition of his 
responsibility for others that I was deeply moved. After his 
death, this essay took on even greater importance. Eric was a 
fine young man and his life was one of leadership and 
friendship. He worked to improve race relations in his high 
school community. He helped care for his ill mother. He made 
many friends on our campus and left a lasting memory, a memory 
of a kind, giving man."  

Kmetz and Johnson want to memorialize Eric by creating a 
scholarship targeted toward those who have escaped from 
difficult circumstances and who have improved both their own 
life and the lives of those around them. This scholarship will 
be based primarily on character to reflect the best of Eric. 
Says Kmetz, "Eric was a living symbol of the American Dream at 
its finest, but was tragically denied the conclusion of that 
dream. We'd like to let his memory live on by helping to provide 
that dream to others."

Scholarship organizers and friends of Eric McMillan will be 
collecting donations for The Eric McMillan Memorial Scholarship 
this Friday, May 6th in front of the Idaho Commons between 10 am 
and 4 pm. Donations may also be dropped off at the Continuing 
Education Building, Room 117, or mailed to campus zip 3147.  Off 
campus donations should be mailed to:
        	
	 Eric McMillan Memorial Scholarship
             University of Idaho Foundation
             Gift Administration Office
             PO Box 443147
             Moscow, ID 83844-3147


Contact:
Marcia Kmetz, kmet2153 at uidaho.edu
Jan Johnson, janjohn at uidaho.edu
Both can be reached through the UI Department of English, (208) 
885-6156