Kean University Medallion Society Announces the Creation of the Sara D. Wheelwright Endowed Scholarship Fund at Kean University

October 2, 2025

Sara Wheelwright ’14

Keeping Sara’s Light Alive and Empowering Kean Students

Adrienne and Robert Wheelwright have pledged their support to establish the Sara D. Wheelwright Endowed Scholarship Fund at Kean University in honor of their late daughter, ensuring that future advertising and graphic design students can pursue their dreams. In addition, the couple has included the Kean University Foundation in their estate plans with a bequest to further benefit Michael Graves College.

Their daughter, Sara Danielle Wheelwright ’14, was a graduate of the Michael Graves College at Kean University. She lived with creativity, purpose, strong friendships and a love of travel. She earned her bachelor’s degree in graphic design, making the Dean’s List every year. As an active member of student government, she led the redesign of campus communication materials. Her talent for visual storytelling launched a promising career, and just before her passing, she was accepted into a master’s program in User Interface Design at Rutgers University.

“She was a generous collaborator and a creative force, exactly the kind of student who lifts everyone around her,” said Rose Gonnella, Associate Dean, Michael Graves College at Kean University.

Distinguished Professor Robin Landa added, “Sara was deeply intelligent, endlessly talented, and profoundly kind. She approached design with both rigor and imagination, and life with a rare blend of courage and compassion. The generosity with which she shared her gifts continues to inspire, and her legacy will live on in the students who follow in her path.”

Friends remember her with equal admiration. Nekeisha Blandin ’08 called her “a bright light—always encouraging, always thoughtful.” Classmate, Jamie Williams ’12, recalled Sara’s boldness about life and shared, “Sara was always up for a creative challenge and approached each project with confidence and dedication. We collaborated on a project she later expanded in her portfolio, turning Ninja Babies into a believable kids’ brand.”

Through their generosity, the Wheelwrights are making sure that Sara’s name and the values she embodied will continue to inspire and uplift generations of Kean students.

Social Media Community Guidelines

The Kean University Foundation manages several social media channels. Through these channels, we aim to facilitate supportive conversations and share informative, engaging content. But please note—if you post to one of our social media channels, send us messages, reply to our tweets or comment on any of our posts, you are agreeing to follow and adhere to these Social Media Community Guidelines.

Additionally, please remember that the comments and responses you read on our channels from other community members come from them, not us. The content of other peoples’ comments, opinions and statements, even if they’re posted on our channels, do not necessarily reflect our views—they are the responsibility of the members of the public who choose to post them.

In order to help us keep our Kean University Foundation and Kean Alumni social media channels as supportive places to discuss shared topics of interest, please abide by the following Social Media Community Guidelines:

Be Respectful
1. Respect is a core part of being a Kean Cougar. Although we welcome your comments and feedback, you must take the responsibility to share both in a way that is respectful to Kean University, our team members and our overall community.
2. We will not tolerate comments, replies, messages or posts that are inappropriate, harassing in nature, or otherwise abusive.
3. We do not welcome comments, replies, messages or posts that are promoting or soliciting a third-party site. This includes third-party products and initiatives.
4. Social media is not the proper forum to send us feedback about our services. Please email kuf@keanfoundation.org for help with those topics.
5. We reserve the right to remove comments/replies/message that do not adhere to our policies, or any content that we believe does not comply.
6. We reserve the right to block or ban anyone who violates our policies.

Comment Moderation and Responses
1. We monitor our social media channels on weekdays, during normal business hours. We try to respond as soon as we are able.
2. Although we are moderating our social media channels to ensure that those commenting are complying with our guidelines, we are not responsible for anything posted by members of the public.

Your Posts May Become Our Future Content
1. When tagging us on social media platforms, please keep in mind that you are consenting to us potentially resharing your content in the future as User Generated Content. By posting on our channels and tagging us in your content, you agree that your posts may be freely used by us on our social media channels, and possibly on our website or in our newsletter.
  1. Knowing this, please do not post any information that you prefer to keep confidential.
  2. Do not share any information from which you expect to receive compensation.
2. When you post on or interact with any of our social media channels, remember that your name, likeness and social media handle will be visible to us and associated with your post/reply/message. If we reshare or use your post/reply/message elsewhere, we may display your name, likeness and social media handle when we do so.

May 2021

-->

Kean University Medallion Society Announces the Creation of the Sara D. Wheelwright Endowed Scholarship Fund at Kean University

Your donation helps us continue our shared mission.

Social Media Community Guidelines