Bequest “Pays it Forward” for Sam Masarachia

INDIANAPOLIS – Back in 1999, when Sam Masarachia honored the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI with a $1.2 million gift to endow a scholarship program, he gave no hint that there might be more to come. Today, a $1.5 million bequest from his estate means the Masarachia Scholars program will truly “pay it forward” for Sam Masarachia.

Masarachia, who died in November 2004 at the age of 97, established the program to provide four-year, full, in-state tuition scholarships for IUPUI students pursuing careers in senior citizen advocacy, labor relations, or community advocacy. Since the first scholarships were awarded in 2001, 18 students have been enrolled the program.

Currently, nine IUPUI students receive Masarachia Scholarships. Two freshmen who will begin their studies this fall also will receive scholarships.

“This bequest expands the program substantially and ensures that many more students will become Sam Masarachia Scholars,” said Robert White, dean of the School of Liberal Arts. “As such, these students are participants in a program built on the values of a true community hero.”

The gift that initially established the Masarachia Scholars program was, at the time, the largest ever presented to the School of Liberal Arts. The program includes internship and community service components in addition to coursework in the student’s major.

Masarachia had a keen sense of citizens’ rights and responsibilities, shaped by a lifetime of experience. He left high school after the ninth grade to support his family, taking a job with an Indianapolis saw manufacturer. He went on to become a successful and well-respected union organizer and official with the United Steelworkers of America.

Putting his labor career on hold during World War II, Masarachia saw extensive combat action as a soldier, and received four Bronze Stars.

Politically and civically active well into his 90s, Masarachia worked extensively as an advocate for senior citizens. In addition to being a member of several seniors’ rights organizations, he was instrumental in the development of a senior citizens center in the southeast Indianapolis neighborhood where he lived much of his adult life.

Gail Plater, assistant dean for Development and External Affairs in the School of Liberal Arts, said that Masarachia viewed IUPUI as a place that attracted exactly the kind of committed person who could most benefit from both the scholarship and the program it supports.

“Our ability to work with Sam to identify faculty and curricular opportunities to build a strong program in community activism made this a natural place for Sam to establish his legacy,” Ms. Plater added.

Jim Wallihan, the first director of the Masarachia Scholars program, said that Masarachia made it a point to get to know the scholars personally. An annual dinner allowed the students and their families to spend time with Masarachia. For the students he represented a real-life role model, one who demonstrated “the benefits of representing people and helping people collectively,” Professor Wallihan said.

According to Dean White, “Sam believed that ‘the great use of life is to spend it on something that will outlast it.’” He wanted the students who were to receive these scholarships to be part of a comprehensive academic program that would provide them with the tools to become committed, active citizens, poised to help change the world. That's what the Masarachia Scholars Program is all about.

Students interested in applying for a Masarachia Scholarship can find more information at http://liberalarts.iupui.edu/grants/student.html or at http://liberalarts.iupui.edu/masarachia/index.php.