March 7, 2025
By Molly Urnek

In 2005, Don Aripoli orchestrated some unconventional family planning. He and his wife, Becky, established the Helios/Dominick and Emelene Aripoli Scholars program, creating a new branch in their family tree — one made up of USF students.

In February, that large and still growing family sat down together for a meal, an annual tradition hosted by Don Aripoli at USF’s Tampa campus. The event included many familiar faces among the current and former students, but so much has changed: wedding bands sparkled on ring fingers, texts from babysitters popped up on phone screens and conversations included job promotions and leadership advancements. Students who once struggled to pay tuition are now thriving professionals saving for their own children’s college funds. 

Melizza Astacio Etienne, ’08, still remembers the gut-wrenching panic she felt before receiving the Helios/Aripoli scholarship 19 years ago. A first-generation student, she was working multiple jobs, interning at Tech Data in Clearwater and hunting down on-campus events offering free food. It was all too much. One day, she found herself crying in the office of Patsy Sanchez, former director of the USF Latino Scholarship Program. She didn’t know how she was going to keep it all going.

That day, Sanchez could offer her only tissues and sympathy.  But a short time later, she called to offer an unexpected lifeline:  Etienne could become a Helios/Aripoli Scholar.

“I was welcomed into a family of people who, even though they didn't know me, believed in me, encouraged me and gave me the means to do better for my life,” says Etienne, the third scholar inducted into the program. “The financial support was one thing, but finally feeling at home was everything.”

Since its inception, the program has supported 25 students, all of whom were the first in their families to attend college. While the financial support is critical, like Etienne, many first-generation students struggle with homesickness and finding their place at a university.

“It's challenging coming from a safe community and family space to this large university,” says Etienne. “Not knowing anyone, you question everything. I was missing home, and this scholarship made me feel valued and heard in this new world.”

Aripoli created the scholarship in his parents’ names with the help of Helios Education Foundation, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year and where Aripoli is a founding board member. He keeps the memory of his parents alive through desserts offered at the annual dinners: pineapple upside-down cake for his father and a devil’s food cake with sour cream icing for his mother. That tradition bonds the scholars and serves as a sweet welcome into the family.

 “The reason I want them to feel like they’re part of the family is because they are,” says Don Aripoli. “Watching the students grow up makes me feel like I’m doing something, with Helios’ backing to support this program.”

Each year, a new freshman is granted the scholarship which renews annually, providing support until graduation. As the family grows, the recipients stay connected through annual gatherings that also bring together USF and community leaders.

“Being around Don and people who are successful in the community is the kind of fuel and inspiration to help you continue on in your work,” says Farah Vickery, ’12 and MA ’17, a scholar who won an Emmy Award for her work with PBS. “It’s reassuring that you’re doing something right if you’ve earned a spot next to these people.”

Alumni of the program have gone on to careers in medicine, finance, human resources and more around the world. Now returning to USF to celebrate the 20th anniversary, they are the inspiration they once sought.

“I love how scholars like myself, who graduated a long time ago, can still come and be a part of the program,” Vickery says. “I can be the person to give advice now and pay it forward as a mentor.”

Like many family reunions, gifts are shared as physical reminders of their everlasting connectedness.  Each year, the freshman scholarship recipient receives a crystal globe as a reminder of their place in the global society, and each senior receives a USF class ring.

But the greatest gift is the education that would not have been possible without support from Aripoli and Helios.

“Don Aripoli dropped the pebble in the water and created all of these waves of impact in the community that continue on and on,” says Vickery. “Hopefully those waves just keep getting bigger.”