Fundraising effort launched for scholarship honoring UD student killed at Astroworld music festival

NAPERVILLE, Illinois — Family members, friends, and student organizations are leading an effort to establish and raise funds for a scholarship at the University of Dayton in honor of the student killed during the Astroworld music festival tragedy.

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Franco Patino, 21, a UD senior from Naperville, Illinois was one of 10 people killed during the crowd surge incident at the Houston, Texas music festival in November 2021.

Patino was a mechanical engineering technology major with a minor in human movement biomechanics. He was also a member of Alpha Psi Lambda, a Hispanic interest fraternity, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers at UD and was working in an engineering co-op program in Mason, Ohio before his death, according to a UD spokesperson.

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In the aftermath of his death, family, friends, and UD organizations have set up a scholarship fund in his name and are pushing a fundraising effort to fund the new scholarship.

“Franco was an incredible human being who had great ambitions and an incredibly bright future ahead of him,” Patino’s friend Vivian Mota said in a media release. “Although he is missed every day by countless friends and family, this scholarship we are creating at the University of Dayton will keep his memory alive and lend something positive to this sad and horrific tragedy that occurred.”

The goal of the Patino’s friends and family is to raise $20,000 to establish a current-use scholarship in his honor. The scholarship will be designed to help multi-ethnic students majoring in engineering at UD, a spokesperson for a firm representing the scholarship fund efforts. First considerations for the scholarship will be given to a student involved in either the Alpha Nu Chapter of Alpha Psi Lambda or the University of Dayton’s Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.

Additional information about the fundraising efforts and how to donate to the scholarship fund can be found on this website.

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