The field of ambiguous loss research emphasizes that one way to help with coping is to find meaning—making sense of the loss and finding a new purpose. That resonates with Susan O’Nell, who with her family established the Felicia Giles Faust Scholarship in memory of a loved one.

Susan’s son Emmet and Felicia were in a relationship when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. “She joined our bubble and eventually lived with us,” Susan says. “She became incredibly close with our whole family, in a way that was much bigger than a typical girlfriend. She was like a daughter to me.”

Felicia was an undergraduate in CEHD when her life was cut tragically short at the age of 22. Looking for connection, Emmet and Susan joined an online gathering of her classmates and faculty. Someone brought up the idea of a scholarship in her memory, and their family decided together to make a lead gift to get it started.

The youth studies program in the School of Social Work was the obvious home for the fund because of how powerful the major was for Felicia. She was focused on the competence of adoptive parents to raise a child with transracial identity as a reflection of her own lived experience as a Black child adopted by a White family. The classes and instructors gave her knowledge and tools to explore and prepare to pursue her desire to promote change in this arena.

“She was an incredibly special and talented person, deeply beloved by her friends and family,” Susan says. “She sang, wrote poetry, led community organizing, and was committed to racial justice. She taught me so much about the complexity of adoption and child protection systems, which few think about. We established this scholarship to carry forward that mission.”
Felicia Scholars will have experience or interest in racial justice issues related to child protection, foster care, adoption, or transcultural adoption, with a preference for students who have lived as an adoptee. It’s the hope that the scholarship will encourage students to look at things differently—challenging long held conceptions—and think about how to make the world a better place as they prepare for their career.

Susan says, “This tribute to Felicia is so meaningful. Doing something positive in her name helped with my family’s grief, but it’s also a way to sustain her voice and carry on her personal mission to support youth.”

—Ann Dingman

Photo courtesy of O'Nell family