Bryan Diaz-Ximello, a SUNY Oswego double major in technology education and history, was one of five 2023-24 winners of the Carey Gabay Scholarship Program announced by New York State Governor Kathy Hochul on June 18. 

The scholarship honors Carey Gabay, an attorney and public servant killed as an innocent victim of gun violence in 2015, and is awarded to SUNY students who exemplify Gabay's commitment to social justice, leadership and mentoring, as well as his personal story of academic success and overcoming his economically disadvantaged background.

For Diaz-Ximello of Medford, who similarly dedicated his life “to helping others in any capacity that I was able,” the award and the name attached to it mean a lot.

“I was so incredibly ecstatic,” Diaz-Ximello said. “The second I heard, I ran up to tell my parents. We were just so happy to hear that I won.”

Similar to Gabay’s path, Diaz-Ximello joined many committees in high school in support of others who benefited from a sense of belonging. These included Longwood High School’s Culture and Community Committee, which ensured that every student felt safe and welcomed, and the Best Buddies program to support students with learning disabilities. 

“I wanted to make sure every member of my school felt welcome, not just students but staff and the community in general,” Diaz-Ximello explained.

He excelled in high school and college classrooms before even going away to college. The first-generation college student successfully earned his associate degree from Suffolk County Community College right before earning his high school diploma. Between programs provided by his high school, SCCC and Stony Brook’s CSTEP, he came into SUNY Oswego well-prepared.

“Originally I never meant to get an associate’s degree but toward the end, I realized I could do this,” Diaz-Ximello said. He credited his first contact at SUNY Oswego, technology education chair and professor Richard Bush, for encouraging that step as well as making him realize Oswego was the right choice.

Wanting to teach

“From the beginning, I knew I wanted to be an educator and to teach people things,” Diaz-Ximello said. “Originally I wanted to be a social studies teacher, but my technology education teacher in my freshman year handed me a green folder that said SUNY Oswego Department of Technology, with contact information for Richard Bush. … My first phone call to him, we spent about an hour on the phone, discussing all the classes I was going to take, and what I could do to graduate sooner and get out into the field earlier.”

The many opportunities of Oswego’s technology education programs have already helped advance Diaz-Ximello’s development, including attending the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) conference in Memphis. 

“At the conference, I got to network with other technology teachers and do some professional development,” Diaz-Ximello said. “This summer, I’m working at Suffolk Community College, helping at-risk students, helping direct the STEAM portion. I’ve taken what I learned from the international conference and put it into my lessons.”

Transferring in credits has allowed Diaz-Ximello to take classes that led to discovering so many other things.

“Because of the large number of credits I brought in, I was able to take upper-division credits and lower-division classes at the same time,” Diaz-Ximello said. “For history, I was able to take Murat Yaşar’s History 390: ‘Harems, Bathhouses and Brothels: Society, Gender and Sexuality in the Early Modern Islamic World.’ Taking that class ended up being one of the best things for me.” 

He enjoyed the intellectual challenge of learning how to write about a society he didn’t even know before taking the class. Diaz-Ximello’s paper –- “An Exploration of Gender Roles, Sexuality and Psychosocial Cultural Dynamics in the Umayyad Caliphate of Medieval Islamic Spain: An Analysis of Normative Constructs, Social Stratification, and the Evolving Perceptions of Feminine and Masculine Identities in the Society of Al-Andalus” –- earned a Dean’s Writing Award in history.  

His leadership and accomplishments already gained notice on campus, as Diaz-Ximello was selected as a student speaker for the dedication of the Maraviglia Atrium in Wilber Hall in May in honor of 1958 graduate Frank Maraviglia. He also serves as a Career Peer Assistant in the Office of Career Services and treasurer for the Oswego Technology Student Association.

Diaz-Ximello said his family’s support along the way has been crucial. He even would take his professor’s presentations on Brightspace and share them with his family to ensure he could not only grasp but teach key concepts.

“I’d like to say my family earned the associate’s degree because they took those courses with me by proxy,” Diaz-Ximello said. “They have always been so supportive and would not have been able to achieve this without my friends and family.”

About the scholarship

Gabay grew up living in public housing and attending public school in the Bronx. After a successful high school career, he graduated from Harvard University and Harvard Law School. He had a longstanding commitment to public service and giving back to those around him. During his career, he worked tirelessly in public service, beginning in 2011 as assistant counsel to the former governor and later as first deputy counsel for the Empire State Development Corporation.

The Carey Gabay Memorial Scholarship for students to attend four-year SUNY colleges covers all costs of attendance, including tuition, room and board, college fees, books and supplies, transportation and personal expenses.

"The Carey Gabay Scholarship celebrates students that are leaders in their community and are working to make New York a better place to live, work and play,” Governor Hochul said in announcing this year’s winners. “Carey Gabay, a product of the Bronx public schools and a dedicated public servant, represented the New York dream in action and I’m proud that this continued scholarship honors his memory.”

“Carey was always willing to move mountains if it meant helping others, whether he knew them or not,” SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. added. 

“His passion for humanity was his true calling, and that came through any time I saw him from doing public service work together in college to serving in New York State government,” Chancellor King added. “I have no doubt that the winners of this prestigious scholarship will honor this extraordinary man, by serving their communities and by removing obstacles to give all New Yorkers the same access to opportunities as their neighbors.”

“Carey’s life was taken to a senseless act of gun violence, but his legacy and commitment to public service lives on through this scholarship,” said Trenelle Gabay, founder of the Carey Gabay Foundation. “I know he would appreciate this program’s work to break down barriers for disadvantaged youth and I thank Governor Hochul for continuing to honor Carey's life and work."