UConn Scholarship Set Up in Parkland Victim's Name

STORRS, CT — A Florida family is starting a scholarship at the University of Connecticut scholarship in memory of their 14-year-old son, who was killed in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL in February.

Max Schachter and his wife, Caryn DeSacia, want to keep Alex Schachter’s legacy alive with a scholarship.

They hope to award the Alex Schachter and Family Memorial Scholarship each year to a student who, like Alex, always wanted to play in the UConn marching band.

“After this horrible tragedy, we just wanted to try to have something good come of this,” Alex’s father, Max Schachter, explained. “We’re hoping that it will keep Alex’s memory alive for years and years to come.”

Alex's family said UConn was his dream school and he was made an honorary Husky when the university offered Alex admission posthumously, a gesture that surprised and deeply moved the family.

“It was just a wonderful thing. It lit up my heart. It made us feel really good,” Max Schachter said.

Alex’s UConn “band family” was also deeply affected.

“After expressing our feelings about Alex through halted speech and tears, we immediately designated Alex as a full member of UConn’s marching and pep bands,” said UConn’s Director of Bands, David L. Mills. “Alex was one of us, a real person, a trombone player, and someone lost from our band,” Mills said.

See more about the story on the UConn Today website.

Photo Credit: UConn/Schachter Family