Without the financial assistance they received to attend Trinity University, it is unlikely that San Antonio natives Alfonso A. Diaz ’65 and Sylvia A. Diaz ‘63 would have met, become college sweethearts, married and enjoyed fulfilling careers and long lives together.
Since neither came from families able to pay their tuition, both relied on scholarships and financial aid to attend and eventually graduate with degrees in mathematics.
Trinity also made special accommodations for Alfonso, allowing him to attend six months at a time so he could work the other six months as a math intern at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. In Sylvia’s case, upon graduation, Trinity also arranged for her to obtain a Graduate Assistant Grant, enabling her to continue studying an additional year at the graduate level.
Both eventually worked at White Sands and are now retired.
In gratitude for the assistance they received, they have set up the Alfonso and Sylvia Diaz Endowed Scholarship Fund to provide need-based financial aid to students majoring in a STEM degree program and who have committed to a STEM future as directed by Trinity University.
Their method of funding the endowment is through a mechanism known as a “blended gift.” That is, they have made a substantial contribution to fund the scholarship now so they can enjoy seeing it awarded to Trinity students during their lifetimes. In addition, they have arranged another significant contribution from their trust to arrive after their passing to assist even more STEM majors.
“Though we never had children, our desire was always that talented and promising young people should prosper as we did,” they said in a joint statement. “This scholarship fund is established to fulfill that desire.”
“This fund is our way of saying thank you to those who were there to lend us a helping hand when we needed it,” they said.
Their generous gift supports university’s commitment to ensuring that Trinity students have sufficient financial assistance to attend, graduate and launch their own fulfilling careers and lives.