Ask University of Miami scholarship recipients what the word opportunity means, and the answers are as individual as the students. What they have in common is the opportunities made possible by the donors whose generosity helps ensure that financial barriers do not stand in their way.
For Keira Faddis, a sophomore majoring in journalism and creative advertising, opportunity means a career dream she had nurtured since high school, to be a professional journalist, is well on its way to being a reality.
For Devin Thomas, a third-year architectural engineering major, it means “building big buildings,” but also performing in front of tens of thousands of fans as part of the Band of the Hour during the Miami Hurricanes’ run to the College Football Playoff National Championship.
For Sophia Knutson, who graduated last December with a degree in computer science and data science, it means gaining “the validation that I belong in the rooms I want to step into.”
Faddis, Thomas, and Knutson joined scholarship donors Tony Argiz and Tracey Layney to exchange stories at the 2026 Scholarship Donor Celebration, held on March 3 at the Newman Alumni Center. The panel discussion was moderated by University President Joe Echevarria.
Joel Samuels, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost, opened the program by acknowledging scholarship donors. “Every one of these scholarships connects to something personal to you as donors, a part of your story through which our students now benefit going forward.”
Faddis, recipient of the Peace Sullivan-James Ansin Scholarship, recalled with wonder the moments when she introduced herself as a journalist. “That is something I have always dreamed of, but never thought it would come to fruition,” she said. “When I came to campus, on the first day of my first year, [I thought] someone is believing in me before I believe in myself.” Now, as co-editor of The Miami Hurricane and lifestyle editor of the Ibis Yearbook, Faddis has made good on that belief.
Thomas, a Hammond Scholar and recipient of the Michael Mann-Carmine Parente Scholarship, spoke about his participation in the Band of the Hour and the wonderful memories that experience has afforded him. He joked about engineering’s reputation for rigor— “you’re stuck in this lab, looking at math equations all day”—and how his scholarships have given him the “freedom to do the things I love. I can focus on my studies, but I can also relax and do something that’s going to keep me joyful. And if I weren’t granted these scholarships, I would not be here. … I can't tell you how much it has changed my life and how much I've grown as a person because of people believing in me.”
School of Law scholarship recipients Samantha Whitsel, Khya Morton, and Heath Newman with scholarship donor Gordon Murray, second from left.
Knutson, a Steven B. Schonfeld Foundation, Inc. Computer Science and Computer Engineering Scholar, related how her parents broke down in tears of pride when she received news of the award. She also talked about the moment when she realized “the scholarship was not just funding my education; it was also expanding my imagination, and that I am not bound to my starting point.” Knutson likened her scholarship to a runway on which she had the structure and time to build speed, momentum, and a trajectory that propelled her through her studies to her current professional role as a corporate strategy and transformation business analyst at Schonfeld Strategic Partners.
Argiz, who with his wife established the Tony and Conchy Argiz Endowed Scholarship and was instrumental in establishing an endowed scholarship for undergraduate accounting students, made the point that the impact of scholarship support spans generations and communities. “Not only are you helping the student, giving them that extra push, but you’re helping generations of families take it to the next level,” he said.
Layney, who with her husband, Jaison, established the Layney Family Endowed Centennial Arts and Sciences Scholarship, also emphasized the importance of paying it forward.
“We both come from working-class families, and half of our family hadn’t gone to college,” she said. “The fact that we were able to have that experience was deeply impactful. … You see the amazing things [students] are going to do in the world, and to be able to play a small part in that, to give that leg up, feels like the very least we could do.”
Echevarria picked up on the theme of generational impact as he shared his own journey as a University of Miami scholarship student in the 1970s. “I was the first person in my family to go to college. Somebody believed in me, and I wish I knew who that person or persons were, because they changed my life trajectory,” he recounted. “They changed the life trajectory of my four children—they all went to college and are happily employed and engaged. I don’t know if all that would have happened without a donor.”
Speaking directly to the donors present at the celebration, Echevarria summed up the event’s meaning with a simple message: “What you do is extraordinarily important, changing the life trajectory of every human being you touch. Thank you all for that.”
