Family, Community Launch
From the summer 2008 issue of UConn Momentum
The tragic death of a young man about to begin his freshman year at UConn–Torrington has sparked family and community members to rally for a new scholarship in his name.
Kollin DeNegre, of Harwinton, was killed in a personal watercraft accident in August 2007 while on vacation just weeks before he was to start college. He was 18. An avid outdoorsman and volunteer firefighter, DeNegre’s enthusiasm for life and for giving back to his community inspired an extraordinary outpouring of support in reaction to his untimely death. In just a few short months, the newly established Kollin DeNegre Memorial Scholarship Fund had grown to more than $30,000.
Part of the impetus to establish the scholarship came from DeNegre’s newfound interest in school. According to his aunt, Cindy Cudworth, DeNegre had a big change of heart about the importance of college after his senior year of high school, when he participated in UConn’s Student Support Services (SSS) program.
“School just wasn’t his favorite thing,” says Cudworth, describing a bright young man whose passions lay mostly outside the academic arena. The SSS Program prepares students for successful entry into, retention in, and graduation from the University. The six-week program introduces them to the rigors of university life and helps them develop the discipline and skills required to succeed academically.
The dozen or so students in the program form close bonds with one another and with their mentors, with the goal of better preparing them to meet the challenges of college.
“Kollin really, really, benefited from the program,” said Torrington SSS program coordinator Christine Mosman, who was DeNegre’s counselor in the program. “He said to me, ‘I finally got it.’”
DeNegre’s sudden death in the short period between his successful completion of the summer program and the start of his freshman year played a key role in his family’s decision to establish a UConn scholarship as a memorial. Their goal was to support another young person in a similar situation, trying to do what DeNegre had hoped to do for himself: get a college education.
The Kollin DeNegre Memorial Scholarship Fund is designated for a UConn–Torrington student demonstrating engagement in community service, as well as merit and need. Priority will be given to students who have attended the SSS program.
In a ceremony in May, Allie Tartaglino, of Torrington, was the first to receive the scholarship, less than a year after DeNegre’s death. Tartaglino and DeNegre had met and worked together during the SSS program last summer. She is entering her sophomore year, and hopes to major in human development and family studies.
The DeNegre family is planning a softball tournament this fall to raise funds to continue building the scholarship.
For more information, please contact Diana Limoncelli at dlimoncelli@yahoo.com. For more information about supporting the Torrington campus, please contact the UConn Foundation's development department.
