The Sankey Family Scholarship Fund

What is your vision for your gift and its future impact?

"Our vision is to change students' lives and make their dreams come true. I am a first-generation college student and so is the recipient of our education scholarship support. I know how difficult it is not only to fill out college forms and financial aid forms, but also to come to a university when no one else from your family can support you in that transition since they did not have that opportunity. To be able to meet our scholarship recipients, look in their eyes, hear their stories, their hopes and their dreams is truly a blessing. We hope our gifts' future impact will be to directly impact not only our students' present lives, but their futures and future generations."

Why is philanthropy and giving back important to you?

"We strongly believe that we are our brother's keeper. We have continually been helped and blessed by the gifts of others. I went to school on the GI Bill and other university scholarships benefitting students from Appalachia where I grew up. As Emerson wrote in his essay "On Compensation," we have an opportunity and obligation to pay forward because we can never truly pay back those in our past who have helped and supported us. My husband comes from a family of Ohio Staters and his family was also positive supporters of Ohio State."

How would you describe your connection to the university over the years?

"We have maintained a close relationship with the university since we graduated. We started taking our daughter to basketball games when she was 18 months and my husband taught her numbers and math at those games. She started going to football games when she was three years old and her "pretend" friends were Chris Spielman and Dennis Hopson. Following Ohio State sports became a family affair. We would all walk around campus to our favorite places such as the Oval and Mirror Lake with our daughter and she also grew to love the university as we do. We are part of the Barrett-Houck Reunion group, and we are have returned to campus every five years since graduation. One reunion we rented Houck House, my husband's dorm and the dorm of many of our friends, and we all brought our children to campus, staying in the dorm with our families, ate in our old commons, and shared stories. We recently celebrated our 40th graduation anniversary and all stayed in the Blackwell, watching the Indiana game at BW3's and sharing now grandchildren photos. We truly love Ohio State and often return to campus. Our daughter also graduated from Ohio State, as did her husband, and was in the marching band for five years. Some of our fondest memories are her years with the band, sitting in skull sessions with other band parents and being a part of that wonderful band family, including having row dinners at our home and traveling to away games and bowl games and watching her march on National Championship fields. Our entire family are Buckeyes and we could not be prouder!"

"But for Ohio State, I would never have met my husband. We met in March of our junior year, became engaged in the middle of the Block O in Ohio Stadium and have never been apart since. The majority of our memories and lives are intertwined with Ohio State. We have traveled with the alumni association, our closest friends are also Buckeyes and our favorite colors are scarlet and gray! We feel so fortunate to have shared Ohio State experiences and our lives have been blessed as a result of our Ohio State degrees and our love for our university."

If you would like to make an impact and support scholarships for students, contact Leslie Kreinberg at kreinberg.3@osu.edu or at 614-247-6600