ALLIANCE – Students in the University of Mount Union’s Class of 2022 dedicated their class gift in honor of their late classmate, Sydney Kleptach.

In early September of 2018, Kleptach, of Canton, Ohio, was a student-athlete studying biology and French and a member of the women’s soccer team at Mount Union when she passed away in a tragic car accident. As she was an important person for everyone she met early on in her college career, the 2022 graduating class decided to honor her by creating a scholarship in her memory.

“Our class president, Camryn Nouza, came up with the idea to dedicate the class gift in Sydney's memory and we all thought it was a wonderful idea,” explained Aleksandr Duran '22, senior class social media chair. “She was very special as she played a huge part in many peoples’ lives.”

Mount Union already offers an array of scholarships to its students, but Duran stated that this scholarship is special because it recognizes Kleptach and, therefore, hopes that the scholarship recipient honors her memory while benefiting financially through the scholarship.

Lisa Kleptach, Sydney’s mother, expressed how grateful she and her husband, Brian, have been to have the support of the Mount Union community throughout the past few years and to have this scholarship continue Sydney’s legacy.

“The surprise and shock when we heard about the scholarship was overwhelming,” Lisa expressed. “A parent’s worst fear is losing a child, and second is losing their memory of that child. This is a very heartwarming gesture for us, and we have been overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of the Mount Union community.”

Lisa indicated that Sydney worked diligently for scholarships to attend Mount Union and is proud that a scholarship in her daughter’s honor will help other students attend the University as well – something that is not lost on the members of the Class of 2022.

“As a committee and as representatives of the most recent graduating class from the University, we understood the financial difficulties in which attaining a higher education can bring; thus, the choosing of this gift,” explained Aleya Mims '22.

Mims stated that the scholarship impacts her graduating class directly because they all want to leave a positive mark at Mount Union by leading incoming and future Raiders into a bright and stable future.

“We not only wanted to give aid to those coming in the next year, but also leave a reminder that all involved in the Mount Union family can do exceptional things within our lives,” added Mims.