Eric Kumpf ’94 and Alexis Brady ’96
“URI held a special place in his heart,” says Alexis Brady of her fiancé, Eric Kumpf. “We both loved Rhode Island so much we planned a wedding for September 27, 2003, in Newport. I remember every time we drove to Rhode Island, we’d have to drive through campus. Eric would enthusiastically point out any renovations or construction sites that he had read about.”
Eric and Alexis met in elementary school in Bedminister, N.J., but didn’t date until they had graduated from college and started careers in New York City. They lived together in Hoboken, N.J.
Due to a tragic accident, that special day in September never happened. It was the weekend of June 19, 2003, when Eric, traveling in Chicago, stopped by a party to see a friend. He was standing on a back porch of a third-floor apartment in the city’s affluent Lincoln Park neighborhood when the porch collapsed. The 30-year-old groom-to-be was one of a dozen young people killed.
Grief stricken, Alexis organized two fundraisers to memorialize her fiancé. The first raised enough money to dedicate the URI Student Alumni Association’s office in the new Alumni Center in Eric’s name. Then, with Alexis’ help, Eric’s employer, Barclays Capital, organized a bowl-a-thon and silent auction at Bowlmor Lanes in mid-town Manhattan that raised $149,000.
Those funds have established three new endowments at URI: The Eric F. Kumpf Memorial Humanities Honor Student Endowment, which provides research grants for undergraduate honors students involved in humanities projects; the Eric F. Kumpf Memorial Humanities Fellowship Endowment, which provides research fellowships for faculty and graduate students; and the Eric F. Kumpf Memorial Journalism and Political Science Scholarship Endowment, which supports students majoring in either of Kumpf’s majors of political science or journalism.
Lastly, since Kumpf was an ardent sports fan, a gift of $1,000 placed his name on a football stadium seat.
Robert Beagle, vice president for University Advancement, and Michele Nota, executive director of Alumni Relations, participated in the New York City bowl-a-thon, which they noted was a “wonderful outpouring of affection for Eric.”
“Eric was a great URI supporter, both as a student and an alum,” Beagle added. “These endowments will provide a fitting tribute to his memory while having a lasting impact. Helping URI forever is what Eric would have wanted.”
As a student, Kumpf was a tour guide for the Admissions Office, a freshman orientation leader, president of the Student Alumni Association, and a sports commentator for the URI football team. After graduating, he was a URI admissions officer recruiting in his home state of New Jersey. He was the youngest alum to make a leadership gift to the Ryan Center campaign, and he was a leadership donor to URI’s Annual Fund.
“Eric was a great man and had the biggest heart. He would have been proud to help students,” says Brady, who works in merchandising and product development for Zanella, an Italian fashion company, in Manhattan. “I miss him so much, and so do his family, his friends, and his colleagues. We talk about him all the time, so his memory is never lost.”
To contribute to the Kumpf memorial endowments, contact Tom Zorabedian at 401-874-2853 or at zman@advance.uri.edu.
— Jan Wenzel ’87
Jan Wenzel is a public information officer in the URI Communications Office.
