Eastern Student Robert Zielinski of Bethany Named Recipient of the ECSU Foundation's Victoria Leigh Soto '08 Memorial Endowed Scholarship

2015 Nov 16

Eastern student Robert Zielinski '17 of Bethany was named as a recipient of the ECSU Foundation's Victoria Leigh Soto '08 Memorial Endowed Scholarship for the 2015-16 academic year. Zielinski's major is Mathematics.

The scholarship was created in honor of Eastern Connecticut State University alumna Victoria Leigh Soto '08, an elementary school teacher who lost her life protecting her first-grade students at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, on Dec. 14, 2012.

Soto was a dean's list student while she attended Eastern as an elementary education and history double major. She was also a member of Phi Alpha Theta, the National History Honor Society. Her dream job was to teach and nurture young children in the primary grades.

Eastern started the scholarship in honor of Soto and her heroism and to support students studying to be teachers who have unmet financial need.

"I am touched by how passionate our Soto Scholarship recipients are in their commitment to becoming school teachers," said Kenneth DeLisa, vice president for institutional advancement. "They clearly understand the ultimate sacrifice that Victoria Soto made three years ago in Newtown, and want to honor her memory by being the best educators they can be. It is gratifying to know that the ECSU Foundation can provide significant financial support to these aspiring teachers."

"Receiving this scholarship is humbling. The generosity of the scholarship donors has helped me further my education without having to worry as much about the financial burden of college. Victoria Soto's selfless actions were apparent throughout her life as a teacher, and that makes this so much more meaningful," said Zielinski.