At SUNY Potsdam’s virtual Legacy Series last fall, Nancy Castro ’00 could not help but notice the similarities between Garcia Oscar ’20 and Lloyd DeShawn Osborne ’00, despite the twenty-year gap between their class years. Both served as Resident Assistants on campus, volunteered to help those in need and advocated for justice and equity.
Left: Garcia Oscar ’20. Right: Lloyd DeShawn Osborne ’00.
These parallels were fitting since Oscar was the first recipient of the Lloyd DeShawn Osborne Memorial Scholarship, which Castro established in honor of her friend and classmate, who passed away in 2009.
“Garcia is an excellent example of the kind of person, the kind of life, that DeShawn set out to be,” shared Castro, a data analyst for a non-profit in Connecticut. “I am incredibly excited for Garcia and the life that he will live.”
Castro met Osborne, known by friends as “DeShawn,” at their freshman orientation for the Equal Opportunity Program (EOP) at SUNY Potsdam in August 1995. Unbeknownst to them, they rode the same bus up from Manhattan, N.Y. but didn’t meet until they were on campus. The two became close friends and got to know each other well over the course of their undergraduate career.
“I started the scholarship to ensure that Deshawn’s name and work and life at SUNY Potsdam will always be remembered. The scholarship is a great way for me to connect his life at SUNY Potsdam to EOP and the students in the program, for many, many years to come,” Castro said.
The Lloyd DeShawn Osborne Memorial Scholarship is awarded annually to an EOP student in good academic standing who has been at Potsdam for at least three semesters. Preference is given to students who invest in the Potsdam community through campus activities and/or student organizations.
Osborne was an active presence on campus and in the community as a SUNY Potsdam student. In addition to his role as an RA, he volunteered at the College’s multicultural office and took part in an education program at local grade schools that taught the value of tolerance and understanding diversity.
“DeShawn was always someone who wanted to be in the center of making sure that people take action on things that matter most,” Castro remembered. “He was an example to live by.”
Castro’s scholarship ensures that students, like Oscar, can continue DeShawn’s legacy at his alma mater, but it also represents her own appreciation for her own experience at SUNY Potsdam.
“As alumni, we have a responsibility to the institution that provided us the education we have today,” Castro shared. “Our success is really a direct result of the education and the people we met that helped lead us through the success we have in our lives. Our contributions as alumni set the tone that SUNY Potsdam is a place to invest in.”
Learn more about how to give through endowed funds at potsdam.edu/giving/waystogive/endowment-giving.