This weekend holds a special meaning for those who knew Hannah Frilot and had a chance to be around this very special person. Sunday, December 15, marks Hannah’s 26th birthday and an opportunity to reflect on her life and what it’s meant to so many.

As the holiday season continues and we take time to spend with our loved ones and celebrate the year that’s been 2019, please, feel free to post any memories or sentiments you wish to share wherever you wish as the Frilot family, her friends, and members of the Memorial Scholarship Fund remember the bright and beaming soul we came to know.

2019 also marks the five-year anniversary of the tragedy that took Hannah. But, this year also brought an overwhelming amount of positivity, compassion, and support from both the people who knew her and the community at large. 

With a record number of students applying for the scholarship set up in her honor (over 25 amazing candidates!), a voluminous number of donations (over $7,000 raised!), and a tremendous outpouring of support for the first-ever “Hannah’s Ride,” this year has been much more than an anniversary: it’s been an absolute celebration of Hannah’s life.

Thank you all for helping make this happen! Let’s make 2020 just as special!

- The Hannah Frilot Memorial Scholarship Fund Committee

P.S. UMass Amherst Information Technology will begin accepting applications for the Hannah Frilot Memorial Scholarship on January 21, 2020. Stay tuned for more details!

Originally announced on July 2016 via: UMass Amherst College of Engineering

Senior Chemical Engineering (ChE) major Julie Boshar from North Andover, Massachusetts, is a straight-A student “with a passion for improving healthcare,” the recent winner of a $1,000 Hannah Frilot Memorial Scholarship and $10,000 William M. Bulger Presidential Scholarship, and a member of the prestigious Commonwealth Honors College. But this highly thoughtful, idealistic, and talented young woman can trace her accomplishments to her beloved Giddo (Arabic for grandfather) and his kitchen.

“My most salient memories are from Giddo’s kitchen,” Julie recalls. “He always had chicken noodle soup cooking on the stove and made the most delicious hummus. Each time I entered Giddo’s kitchen, I was greeted with the same smile and cheerful ‘how do you do!’ He loved apples and always had a bowl of caramel creams within reach. He could recite poetry with poise and enthusiasm, and fix or build just about anything. My grandfather filled my heart and soul with the best memories. Giddo passed away in June of 2015 at the age of 92, but he has always been and will continue to be my biggest influence in every aspect of life.”

 

Julie remembers that Giddo, one of five children born to Lebanese immigrants who settled in Lawrence, Massachusetts, “supported and raised his children, and he later loved and cherished 12 grandchildren all equally.” He was an aircraft mechanic during WWII and went on to become an ironworker who taught the trade to apprentices. All this despite the fact that he lost his hearing in one ear in an automobile accident, two fingers in an electrical accident, his beloved wife to cancer, and later in life he had a triple bypass surgery and suffered from cancer and dementia.

 

“I truly do not know a stronger person,” says Julie. “His life is the most remarkable example of strength, resilience, perseverance, and courage.”

...

Julie’s inspiration from Giddo has led to many hard-earned successes in her young life. The Hannah Frilot Memorial Scholarship was created to honor Hannah Frilot's memory at UMass Amherst. Hannah was a rising senior studying Industrial Engineering when she died tragically after being hit by a car in July of 2014. The William M. Bulger Presidential Scholarship is intended to "provide recognition of and financial assistance to five outstanding students" who attend any UMass campus. "Over one million dollars were raised in honor of [Bulger's] 70th birthday in 2004. President Bulger directed these gifts to UMass for the purpose of providing financial assistance to motivated students who are serious about their education."

Read all of Julie Boshar's wonderful profile at: engineering.umass.edu/news/scholarship-winner-julie-boshar-gets-her-inspiration-her-beloved-grandfather

Originally announced on July 19, 2019

Amherst, MA. - The Hannah Frilot Memorial Scholarship committee is proud to name not one, but two recipients for this year’s scholarship!

After receiving a record number of applications, the committee has selected Lauren Kenyon(’21, Computer Science)and Marisa Eleanor Mulvey(’20, Kinesiology, Spanish)as this year’s recipients, providing a $1,000 scholarship to both undergraduate students. Both are upstanding members of the UMass Amherst community who have gone above and beyond when it comes to helping their fellow students and the community at-large, all while pursuing degrees in a STEM field. 

Lauren Kenyon is a Computer Science student who advocates for LGBTQ+ representation in STEM fields in as many ways as she can. An active member of multiple organizations on campus, Lauren serves as the president of the College of Information and Computer Science (CICS) Pride and Allies group, the CICS officer for Out in STEM (oSTEM), and also takes part in the Women in Computer Science club, among many others. 

Described as a “top-notch coder” by one of her professors, she’s taken part in several hackathons put on for worthy causes, in addition to volunteering with various organizations outside of campus, including ServeUP, Stop Hunger Now, and more. She also finds time to assist her peers as an ExSEL leader at the Learning Resource Center and as a CICS undergraduate course assistant. 

Marisa Eleanor Mulveyis a Kinesiology student with a passion for volunteer work and all things math and science. A research assistant in the Kinesiology department’s Physical Activity and Health Lab and student advisor, she also serves as the Membership Vice President of her co-ed service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega Kappa Omicron, taking part in many of the fraternity’s community outreach efforts. This includes shifts at local soup kitchens and food pantries, including the first non-profit, for-student food pantry on campus to combat food insecurity. 

Outside of her fraternity, she is a member of the Red Cross Club and a certified swim instructor, leading swimming lessons at the Amherst Regional Middle School and a local YMCA Youth Swim Lessons program.

These just are some of the many achievements and accolades both students have earned during their time at UMass Amherst, in addition to the glowing recommendations submitted by their professors and more.

The committee thanks them, as well as the many students who applied for this year’s scholarship. We invite them to apply again during the next application window, which will be announced in the months ahead.

Learn more about Hannah Frilot and the scholarship set up in her memory: umass.edu/it/about/hannah-frilot-memorial-scholarship

Over the course of this year's #UMassGives fundraising drive, over 60 donors contributed $2,369 to the Hannah Frilot Memorial Scholarship during its two day run! 

The scholarship raised more than $1,600 alone during its special "power hour," coming in 8th place out of 99 other active participants. While we did not earn any special prizes, we are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support the scholarship received while taking part in #UMassGives for the first time ever.

Thank you to all who donated and/or helped spread the word! And stay tuned for news on more scholarship-related events, including a special bike ride event this fall! 

AMHERST, Mass. – Olivia Gilligan Corsetti, of Somerville, a member of the Class of 2019 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has been chosen to receive the first annual $1,000 scholarship in memory of Hannah Beth Frilot, a member of the UMass Amherst Class of 2015 who died last year.

The UMass Amherst Information Technology office, where Frilot was a student help center consultant for two years, established the scholarship in her memory. While more than $7,000 has been raised so far,fundraising continues towards a goal of $25,000, which will endow the scholarship and honor her in perpetuity.

The Hannah Frilot Memorial Scholarship is awarded annually to encourage young women and gender non-binary students to pursue their interests, particularly in majors in which women are underrepresented, like mathematics and engineering.

Corsetti is entering UMass Amherst as a mechanical engineering major in the same department as Frilot. Her personal essay explained that she chose to attend UMass after spending time with Frilot in July 2014. She had not considered a large school until they discussed Frilot’s experience as a student.

“I feel so lucky to have had Hannah there to reassure me that everything would work out … She was far more confident in my own ability than I was,” Corsetti wrote. “I probably would not have applied and decided to go to UMass if it hadn’t been for her. Realizing that a woman can be in the [College of Engineering] and feel like she belonged made me feel like I too could do just that.”

Frilot was entering her senior year as an industrial engineering major in the College of Engineering when her bicycle was struck by a car in Amherst. She is remembered on campus as a hard-working student, devoted friend and involved member of the community. Frilot advocated for the rights of LGBTQIA+ students and spread awareness of the various and intersecting forms of prejudice, discrimination and privilege while promoting equality as treasurer of the UMass Pride Alliance.

“I am incredibly happy that a UMass student whose decision to attend the university and is personally connected with Hannah will be the first winner of Hannah’s scholarship,” Zac Bears, Frilot’s best friend and member of the selection committee, said. “Olivia represents exactly the type of person who deserves Hannah’s scholarship and whose energy and passion so greatly benefits the University, the community and the people who know them.”

Donations to the scholarship can be made at https://minutefund.umass.edu/.

via: https://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/article/somerville-resident-olivia-gilligan