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Professor Jim Wallihan's "Organizing for Social Action" has just the right focus for the Masarachia Scholars.
The world would stop spinning without people like Sam Masarachia. In his younger days, he was always known as a stand-up guy. Were he alive today, you might call him a quiet hero. The phrasing may have changed, but Sam was always that guy.
In 2001, at age 94, Sam established three full-ride scholarships at IUPUI for students pursuing careers in senior citizen advocacy, labor relations, or community advocacy. “I wanted to do something for young people to give them a chance,” he said at the time.
It is the largest gift to date for the School of Liberal Arts, and it comes from a man who never finished ninth grade. Life intervened in 1923, and a very young Sam was obligated to leave school to find work, which he did in a saw manufacturing plant.
His commitment to community was forged during those years of hard, manual labor. By his mid-30s, he had successfully organized a United Steelworkers of America local in Indianapolis. And by the time he was 40, he was a well-respected and trusted union official.
As a U.S. soldier in World War II, he earned four Bronze Stars. As a founding member of the Southeast Senior Citizens Center in Indianapolis, Sam saw to it that the older folks around him had a secure, well-lit place to relax, socialize, and even organize. It is no coincidence that the Masarachia Scholarships focus on civic engagement. Sam Masarachia always stayed politically and civically active.
Sam died last fall, but his strongest traits and deepest convictions live on through the criteria set up for the Masarachia Scholars. During the many discussions required to establish a major gift such as this, Sam chose IUPUI because of its record on community engagement and because of its importance to Indianapolis. He chose the IU Foundation because he needed an organization that would manage the money well so it could keep funding scholarships forever.
Sam Masarachia was a great man. He fought for the underdog and won. He fought for those without a voice and won. He battled against tyranny and won. The students who experience IUPUI as Masarachia Scholars are forever tied to Sam’s community goals and standards. Each year there are several IUPUI students who can concentrate fully on their course work, all because of a man who wanted others to have the opportunities that he never had.
2005 IUPUI Masarachia Scholars (pictured, from left)
Caridad Ax
Matthew Randall
Courtney Blossom
Praneetha Chaganti
—Geoff Pollock
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