Fairfield University Establishes Mental Health Research Fund With $100,000 Gift

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield University’s John Charles Meditz College of Arts and Sciences has established the Kevin Kuczo Memorial Fund through a $100,000 gift from James and Kristen Kuczo of Kevin’s Afterglow.

The endowment will support an annual student award and provide funding for faculty and student research related to mental health in memory of Kevin Kuczo.

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Faculty from the university’s Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences gathered May 20 to recognize the gift and discuss opportunities it will provide for undergraduate research, experiential learning and academic programming focused on mental health.

According to the university, the endowment will support research projects and other academic activities within the department.

“The heart of what they [the department’s faculty] do is connect students to hands-on research experiences that engages the students, which gets them into careers in mental health, counseling, and behavioral neuroscience,” said Richard Greenwald, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “The research the students are doing supervised by their faculty mentors actively improves the discipline itself.”

James Kuczo said the family’s initial focus was on scholarships, but that research also became a priority.

“We want to thank you. Hearing you talk about empathy and social situations reinforced how important this work is,” Kuczo said. “We originally focused on scholarships, but the research component is important too.”

The gift honors Kevin Kuczo, who struggled with depression during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the family.

James and Kristen Kuczo said they hope the fund will help support future mental health professionals and were encouraged by growing student interest in psychology.

“Thank you for making a difference. This is the department that has the pipeline,” James Kuczo said. “We are pleased that the youth are taking more of an interest in psychology.”