FOUNDATION NEWS

Young Alum Knocks It Out of the Park with Baseball Scholarship

BY MIA CROSS M'03

It’s unusual for young alumni to start thinking about creating a scholarship while they are still in school. But, then again, Nick Trey ‘24/M’25 is not your usual student.

Trey was an undergraduate when he got the idea to establish a scholarship and an endowment at FSU – making him one of the youngest in Frostburg’s history to perform such a philanthropic act.

“If you were to tell me when I was a freshman that I would become one of the youngest donors ever to create a scholarship at FSU, I would have laughed,” said Trey, an accounting major, a stand-out on the Bobcat baseball team and a member of the President’s Leadership Circle. “This was never my goal or intention; however, life has a unique way of shifting things. No matter our age.”

The FSU Foundation’s Director of Administration and Finance Janelle Moffett recalled first meeting Trey in October 2024 when he bounded into her office asking for information about starting a scholarship. “Nick told me that he owed so much to his baseball coach and business professors that he wants to give back.”

Trey initially gave Moffett $1,500 to cover a baseball scholarship in the amount of $500 per year for three years. He now plans to place more money into a holding fund to save towards an endowment. He believes everyone can make a difference, big or small, and give back in some way.

“Each and every one of us has the freedom to make a difference or shape our own story, give meaning to our experiences and even choose to invest in the places that helped shape us,” he said. “Sometimes you have to make a sacrifice today for a more fulfilled tomorrow.”

According to Trey, he would not be the person that he is today without the many people he met at FSU. Inspired by his coursework, specifically one revolving around philanthropy and corporate social responsibility taught by Management Professor Dr. Evan Offstein, Trey was inspired to do more. “I don’t know what it was specifically, but it sparked something in my head. I wanted to combine by interest in philanthropy with my successful baseball career at FSU.”

He also credits the book “The Go Giver” by Bob Burg and John Mann as a major inspiration to his generous mindset.

Trey also knows first-hand the help a scholarship can provide. He was the recipient of the Dave Sanford Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award and the Doris L. Anderson Baseball Scholarship. “I also received a Presidential Merit Scholarship in accounting as well as the PNC Presidential Merit Scholarship for business,” he recalled. “All of these scholarships helped me to be able to focus on school.”

Since graduating this past May, Trey has been working as an equity partner in a growing exterior remodeling company in Ellicott City, Md. Now that he has graduated, he plans to devote all his time to the company but doesn’t plan to give up his philanthropic ways.

“I would love to donate to projects at home or volunteer for events to give back to others in need,” he said.

But Frostburg will always hold a special place in Trey’s heart. “What I will miss most about Frostburg isn’t just one thing, it’s a feeling.” He recalled walking across campus on a crisp morning and seeing familiar faces or late-night conversations that forged new ideas. “Professors that challenged me to think differently, and the quiet moments where I realized how much I had grown from when I had started at FSU.”