In the years since Notre Dame football videographer Declan Sullivan’s death made national headlines, his high school friend Kent Rieger has watched in awe as Sullivan’s family turned grief into a lasting legacy.
Sullivan’s parents, Barry Sullivan and Alison Drumm, started a memorial fund in their son’s name in 2010 and earmarked the money for organizations that stressed the importance of education.
Horizons for Youth, a Chicago organization that provides disadvantaged students with scholarships and tutoring so they have a shot at college, became the primary recipient. Founded by three Notre Dame alumni, Horizons was selected in part because the family wanted to play an active role in its work.
Now more than four years after his death, Sullivan’s friends — many of whom have graduated from college and moved back to Chicago to work — find themselves drawn to the charity, as well. About a dozen volunteer as tutors and mentors for the 65 students sponsored by the Declan Drumm Sullivan Memorial Fund.
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“Something bad happened to Declan, and it was devastating,” said Rieger, 25, who became a mentor at Horizons last year. “But his family has shown us that we can turn it around and change something negative into a positive.”
To help in that effort, Rieger, along with his 6-year-old mentee, will attend the memorial fund’s annual gala Saturday in Navy Pier’s grand ballroom. Former University of Notre Dame football star and ESPN radio host Mike Golic, whose two sons were on the team when Sullivan died, will serve as master of ceremonies. Golic and his wife, Christine, have donated Super Bowl tickets that will be raffled that evening.
Billed as “No Ordinary Evening,” the gala the past three times raised more than $1.9 million, enough to pay for the students — known as Declan’s 65 — to participate in Horizon’s program.
Sullivan, a business major from Long Grove, was working for Notre Dame’s athletic department when he went up in a lift to record football practice Oct. 27, 2010. Though he expressed concerns on Twitter about a severe wind advisory that day, the team’s staff sent him up on the lift anyway. As gusts reached 53 mph during practice, the lift toppled through a fence onto a street.
The Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the university $42,000 for safety violations stemming from the fatal accident. To avoid a more severe ruling, the university agreed to launch an aerial lift safety campaign and make a donation to the memorial fund.
The university, Notre Dame’s athletic department and head coach Brian Kelly’s charity buy a table at the event each year. The 65 students sponsored by the memorial fund also attend so they can better understand Sullivan’s legacy and its role in their lives.
Nicole Weber, a close friend who attended Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein with Sullivan, said the 12-year-old girl she tutors may not know the details of Sullivan’s death, but she knows that her family benefits because of him. The girl and her brother both have 90 percent of their Catholic school tuition paid for by Horizons, in addition to having access to free tutoring and mentorship programs.
“They definitely know who Declan is and what he was all about,” said Weber, 24. “They get it, and they’re so grateful.”
And Rieger thinks his friend would be thrilled to be remembered like that.
“Declan would be really happy that people aren’t sitting around being sad,” he said. “It makes me feel better, knowing how proud he’d be.”
Twitter @stacystclair