‘Full of Spirit and Energy’
Parents create scholarship to honor their son and inspire others.
By Susanna Klingenberg
If you were lucky enough to know political science alum Lope “Max” Diaz II ’98, you might remember his love of music, history and fierce passion for justice. You might remember his devotion to Wolfpack basketball and football. Or how, as a prosecutor, he could own a courtroom with his intellect and charisma. It might be his sincere faith that stuck with you. Or maybe it was his killer dance moves.
But above all, one trait defined how Diaz moved through the world: He loved to help people. “He saw serving the community as a privilege and an honor,” says his mother, Aixa Morales-Diaz, who serves in NC State’s Graduate School as the assistant to the dean. “Wherever he served, he earned so much respect,” says his father, Lope Max Diaz, a retired faculty member from the College of Design. “He was completely full of spirit and energy.”
After Diaz died in 2017 at age 40 from glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, his parents wanted to honor his legacy and pass on Diaz’s giving spirit to future NC State students.
The Lope Max Diaz II Memorial Scholarship Endowment provides merit- and need-based scholarships for students pursuing an undergraduate degree in political science. Preference is given to rising juniors or seniors demonstrating an interest in the legal system and pursuing a concentration in law and justice.
Students applying for the scholarship will get an opportunity to learn about Diaz’s move from Puerto Rico in middle school, his years studying political science at NC State and his time at UNC Chapel Hill law school, where he always wore Wolfpack red when his universities faced off in athletics. They will read about his time as an assistant district attorney in Charlotte, N.C., where he never shied away from hard cases.
“Aixa and I started this scholarship to perpetuate Max’s memory,” says his father, “so that other students can learn about him and be inspired by his compassion and deep desire to help others.”
Photograph courtesy of Diaz family.
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