Reunion Inspires Alumnus to Create Musco Family Scholarship

Fred Musco ’73 poses for Green and Gold Day,
wearing his colors and showing his pride

As a youngster, Fred Musco ’73 always knew he was being guided toward higher education; his parents had made that quite clear. But, as a first-generation college student, he really wasn’t certain how to choose the right college. So, when high school teacher Will Sproat ’62, recognizing Musco’s interest in automotives and other industrial arts, casually mentioned, “Maybe you ought to consider Oswego,” Musco put the lakeside college up on his radar screen.

Then, fast forwarding to 40 years after graduation, Musco attended Reunion 2013, an event that solidified for him an idea he’d been considering off and on for years: the establishment of a scholarship to recognize his parents and pay tribute to the value of his Oswego education by providing financial support for qualifying students from his home region.

Musco, a Lockheed Martin retiree, spoke with members of the Oswego development team and set out to honor Esther Olivia Butler Musco and Ralph Dominic Musco, in acknowledgment of the high ideals of scholarship and citizenship they personified.

“My parents provided a stable environment for their family for 53 years,” Musco says. “They created an atmosphere that cemented for us the certainty that by pursuing higher education, we could become contributing members of society.”

As a result, during the 2014 – 15 academic year, one upper division technology major, who comes to Oswego from the capital district region of New York and meets the academic criteria, will receive the first Musco Family Scholarship award. Preference will be given to a first-generation college student.

“As time passes, the significance of my years in Oswego becomes more patently obvious,” Musco says. “I was fortunate to have supportive parents and caring mentors to point me in the right direction. This scholarship will be one way I can honor them and express gratitude for all the good things that resulted from my Oswego experience.”

—Linda Loomis ’90 M ’97

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