Joseph Stepansky NY Daily News
A Lone Star State public college has pledged a full scholarship to the child of a fallen officer or firefighter from the New York City area.
The University of Texas at Austin is the first college to partner with the Silver Shield Foundation to offer the scholarship program — part of an initiative to broaden the college support the foundation offers, the organization announced Monday.
“We are honored to offer this opportunity to a top student whose family has given so much to their city and country,” University of Texas at Austin’s President Bill Powers said in a statement.
The Silver Shield Foundation was started by Yankees owner George Steinbrenner with former Olympian Jim Fuchs in 1982.
It currently provides around $20,000 in higher education aid to each child of members of the NYPD and FDNY killed in the line of duty as well as to the children of other officers and firefighters killed serving communities in the metro area.
The new initiative aims to find a college in all 50 states within the next two years that is willing to offer a full scholarship to the children of city heroes.
“This initiative enables us to expand our services and provide more opportunities to the children of those who make the supreme sacrifice,” co-chairmen of the foundation’s board of directors William Walters and Howard Lorber said in a joint statement.
Five NYPD officers have been killed in the line of duty since the beginning of 2014.
