AUDIO FSU Headlines: Radio Sept. 11, 2007 FSU Seminole Club of NYC endows 9/11 scholarship

The FSU Seminole Club of NYC has endowed its first 9/11 scholarship. The club moved into action immediately after the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, to honor the victims of the worst attack on the U.S in the nation’s history.  By September 17, 2001, the club had established a scholarship fund to pay tribute to victims of the attack. The fund will help send victims’ and rescuers’ relatives to Florida State University. With the help of major donors Chris and Andrea Diamantis, the fund was recently permanently endowed through the FSU Foundation. Chris is a FSU Booster Inner Council board member and chairman and CEO of Millennium Settlements. 

The club’s president in 2001 and original proponent of the idea, Christopher Jaskiewicz, says, “We were living in Manhattan when the attack happened, and we decided that a great way to honor victims would be to send a child or relative to FSU, which is a special place. I will never forget that when we put this idea together, bodies were being counted and smoke was in the air. Thanks to our club leaders, donors and FSU Boosters, the idea is now a reality.” Chris is also a FSU Booster Inner Council board member and chief operating officer of New York real estate developer Gotham Organization, Inc. 

“We are proud of what we have accomplished as an alumni club far from our alma mater.  As New Yorkers, we are prouder still that we are able to help relatives of victims attend our beloved Florida State University,” says current club president Adrianne Mellen, the director of special events for the March of Dimes--NY Division.  

To raise funds, the Seminole Boosters assisted with several events, including one in Manhattan where FSU Football Head Coach Bobby Bowden and former FSU quarterback and Heisman award winner Charlie Ward appeared. A major donation was also provided by New York resident David Ford, an FSU trustee.  The New York office of international law firm Proskauer Rose LLP donated hundreds of hours in time to assist the fund achieve 501(c)(3) designation so that contributions are tax deductible. The rest of the fund was donated by FSU alumni from around the country. 

Chris Diamantis says, “When Chris Jaskiewicz asked me to contribute, my initial reaction was that this is a great idea that could even be made better by expanding potential recipients to relatives of first responders who did not die–medics, construction workers and others who worked on the site in the days following the attack. As we have come to learn, these people are suffering. I am proud to contribute to the victims of 9/11 and to FSU for this cause and think the club should be applauded for coming up with the idea and having the wherewithal to get it endowed.”