The College of the Florida Keys has re-established the Julie Eckard RN Scholarship for students pursuing associate or bachelor’s degrees in nursing at CFK.
Dr. Kevin Mallinson, CFK’s 2023 Distinguished Alumnus, and his husband Robert Hansen donated $20,000 to the CFK Foundation to endow the scholarship, which was initially established in 1991 following the death of the well-known HIV/AIDS nurse Julie Eckard, who was Mallinson’s fellow classmate in the nursing class of 1987.
The scholarship will support student nurses who are passionate about advocating for patients challenged by adversity, stigma and/or discrimination — much as AIDS patients were in the ’80s and ’90s. By endowing the scholarship, the donation will be invested and its earnings will provide scholarship awards to students in perpetuity — forever memorializing Eckard and supporting nursing education at CFK.
Eckard was working toward an associate’s degree in nursing at CFK when she received an HIV/AIDS diagnosis at 23 years old. She overcame significant physical and social barriers to complete her degree and become a registered nurse. Over the following three years, before she succumbed to AIDS, Eckard cared for many people living with HIV in Key West during the height of the AIDS epidemic and became an advocate for the rights of those facing stigma and discrimination.
“This scholarship honors Julie’s love of the nursing profession and serves to remind us of her unwavering strength, tenacity, and sense of humor,” said Mallinson, who recently organized a reunion of the college’s 1987 nursing class at the Key West Campus.
Inspired by his fallen classmate, Mallinson went on to dedicate much of his career to HIV/AIDS health care. After graduating from CFK, he worked as an ICU nurse caring for many HIV/AIDS patients while continuing to pursue higher education. Over the course of 36 years, he served on national committees and advisory boards, conducted research, published numerous articles, and shared his scholarly work on five continents. He was a consultant for a U.S. Surgeon General and several ministers of health in Africa. He also served on the national board of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care and as the president of the HIV/AIDS Nursing Certification Board. Mallinson recently retired as an associate professor and director of the doctorate program in nursing at George Mason University. CFK honored him with the Distinguished Alumni award at the spring commencement ceremony in May.
The Julie Eckard RN Scholarship of $2,000 will be awarded this fall semester, which begins Aug. 18. The deadline to apply for the scholarship is Sunday, July 16. More information is at the “Ways to Pay” section of the college’s website, www.cfk.edu.
Mallinson is looking to grow the scholarship fund. “I encourage anyone whose life was touched by Julie or any nurse who provided exceptional care to consider contributing to the Julie Eckard RN Scholarship fund. Our world needs more nurses. This scholarship is an excellent way to invest in deserving students and the future of health care.”
Donations to the Julie Eckard RN Scholarship fund can be made online at www.cfk.edu/give or by contacting Lana Gaspari, CFK vice president of advancement and CFK Foundation executive director, at 305-809-3214 or foundation@cfk.edu. Gifts to the foundation are tax-deductible.
