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This version of NSU News has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of NSU News, visit news.nova.edu.
This version of SharkBytes has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of SharkBytes, visit sharkbytes.nova.edu.
A Gift that STEMs from the Heart
Marc Crocquet, M.B.A., was 11 when his family moved to the U.S. It was the early 1980s and his father had left his CEO position in France to escape a socialist government and seek a brighter future for his family. In America, they had to start from scratch. Crocquet’s parents opened a new business and made sacrifices to ensure their two children would get the education they deserved.
“Times are tough when you start a business, but [my sister and I] never felt that,” said Crocquet, vice president of NSU’s Business Services. “They would tell us to continue with school—that they’d manage and figure it out. We didn’t have to worry about how to pay for our undergrad and my sister Patricia and I eventually both received graduate degrees.”
In memory of his parents, Crocquet created the Marc J. and Catherine J. Crocquet Endowed STEM Scholarships Fund, which supports veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces who are enrolled in a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) major. Crocquet chose a STEM focus because he said his father had a strong engineering mind. Additionally, Crocquet’s two young children are also STEM-oriented.
“My daughter loves science. It’s her best subject, and she’s super strong in math. My son is also at the top of the charts in math. I figured that creating this fund would create another connection between my kids and my parents,” said Crocquet.
In addition to creating a scholarship fund, Crocquet has donated to the Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography and to the Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center. Both are a nod to his parents’ personal interests.
Regarding his proudest moments at NSU, Crocquet said, “I think it would have to be graduation, because everything comes full circle. I like to think of their struggle and their story, and see how many touch points or interactions [the graduates] had with something I have a role in. How many meals did they have? How many events did they attend at the arena? Even the internet they used—we bought the routers.”
Crocquet said that no one at NSU ever pushed him to donate. His colleagues told him that eventually he’d find his own reason to do so. He said, “At some point, it’s going to click for you and you’re going to do it because something is really going to drive you. It’s going to be meaningful and personal to you.”
https://realizingpotential.nova.edu/stories/2018/c_marccroquet.html