Scholarship Honors Alumnus Who Was Hit-and-Run Victim
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 15, 2004
CONTACT: Joe Wills
Tel: 530-898-4143
Scholarship Honors Alumnus Who Was Hit-and-Run Victim
A scholarship has been established in the memory of California State University, Chico alumnus Philip Michael Batlin, who was killed in March 2004 by a hit-and-run driver.
Friends and family of Batlin have contributed $19,000 to date to the scholarship fund, which will assist future students attending CSU, Chico.
Batlin, 30, was crossing a street in the Bay Area city of Millbrae with his fiancée when he was struck by a car. She was not injured, but Batlin died as a result of his injuries. A tip from a body-shop owner led to the arrest of the driver the following day.
A native of Moraga and Pinole, Batlin was very close to his family and very committed to community activities. He was a Police Explorer and Boy Scout as a youth, and later volunteered while at CSU, Chico for Community Action Volunteers in Education (CAVE) and Chico’s Rape Crisis Intervention hotline.
After graduating from CSU, Chico in 1997 with a B.S. in recreation and parks administration, Batlin went into restaurant management. Among his many interests were music, the outdoors and baseball.
The Philip Michael Batlin Memorial Scholarship will be available to CSU, Chico students from sophomore to graduate student status with majors in recreation and parks administration. Awards will be made on the basis of merit or need in the amount of $1,000 a year.
The first Batlin scholarship award will be made for the fall 2005 semester. Family and friends are confident of raising additional funds for the scholarship. For more information, call Sarah Fry, director of development, College of Communication and Education, at 530-898-4547.
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