On December 14, 2012, Victoria Leigh Soto ’08 lost her life protecting the children in her first-grade classroom at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, from an assailant who shot and killed 20 children and seven adults that day. Victoria was a dean’s list student while she attended Eastern as an elementary education and history double major. Her dream job was to teach and nurture young children in the primary grades. She died protecting those children. Eastern started the Victoria Leigh Soto ’08 Memorial Endowed Scholarship in honor of Victoria and her heroism, to support students studying to be teachers who have unmet financial need.

Students are encouraged to file the FAFSA by March 1