It’s that connection that prompted them to help create a scholarship in his name when Steven was killed after being taken hostage as a freelance journalist by Islamic terrorist group ISIS in 2014.

Recently, the Sotloffs visited campus to commemorate the first awarded scholarship from The Steven Sotloff Memorial Endowed Fund to senior Adam Manno.

“Knowing that our son’s name lives on, and that the endowment will touch the lives of students with similar interests as his own, truly touches our entire family,” Shirley said.

Manno is expected to graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in political science. He was born in the Dominican Republic but attended high school in South Florida, where he got his first taste of journalism while working for his school newspaper.

He chose UCF because it encompassed everything he was looking for: a big school in an interesting and vibrant city, a well-renowned journalism department and a financial aid offer “thanks to UCF’s vision of education for all.”

“That’s one thing I really love about the school – it makes sure everyone who wants an education can get one,” he said. “It’s been very good to me.”

Manno was a sophomore at the time of Sotloff’s tragic death. He attended the vigil that was held on campus a day after the news broke worldwide. Manno said it both saddened and mobilized him.

“I just want to write and shed light on the stories that deserve to be told,” he said. “Like Steven did.”

Before Steven died, he managed to smuggle out a letter to his parents. They said that he wrote of his desire to give back.

After his death, the Sotloffs helped start the fund, which provides scholarship support to UCF students majoring in journalism as well as funding for symposia, lectures and other programming to advance journalism and journalism education.

Manno was honored to be chosen as the first recipient and understands the significance it carries.

“This is a scholarship directly tied to someone’s sacrifice for my profession. He was a former UCF student out there pursuing his life’s work. That’s all he was doing, and that’s what led to his death. It means more to me than just the money,” Manno said. “It means that I have to work hard to prove myself worthy of it. It’s an incentive that comes with a big responsibility.”

The fund still has room for growth. The Nicholson family, benefactors of the Nicholson School of Communication, pledged to match every dollar given up to $25,000.

Sonja and Tony Nicholson have spent time getting to know the Sotloffs and didn’t hesitate to extend their heartfelt support.

“They want their son’s name to live on. We felt that was a very small gesture on our part. We can’t ease that pain for them, but we can help carry his name on,” she said. “We just feel like [giving back is] so important because it touches so many lives, and we care about the students.”

Those interested in donating can do so by visiting:

While on campus, the Sotloffs told Steven’s story to a room of College of Sciences scholarship recipients and their donors. There were some tears and a nod to Steven’s presence, who they believed was looking down with gratitude.

“The years he spent here, he really enjoyed, especially the rugby team. That was his passion and his love,” Art said.

As the Sotloffs said their goodbyes, Shirley looked back and said quietly, “our hearts are here.”

The three will be honored during a conference at the National Press Club in Washington.

Sotloff, a freelance journalist who traveled the world while working for TIME magazine and other publications, was captured in 2013 and beheaded last September. He attended UCF 2002-04 and worked for the campus newspaper.

Others to be honored are: James Foley, a freelance photojournalist who was captured and killed by ISIS in Syria; and Austin Tice, a freelance writer who was abducted in 2012 and is believed to be held captive.

“These three men represent the highest values of journalism: Courage, sacrifice and a firm commitment to the truth,” said Randy Dotinga, president of the society. “Their bravery and dedication are especially inspiring to us as fellow independent writers.”

The award was first presented in 1975, and has only been awarded 11 times due to its high criteria. According to the journalists’ organization, the award recipients must knowingly have taken a risk that goes beyond the normal call of duty.

“The Conscience in Media award recognizes journalists who knowingly have endured great personal costs while pursuing the highest tenets of their profession,” said Sally Wendkos Olds, interim chair of the society’s First Amendment Committee.

The award ceremony will be 9 a.m. at the conference for independent writers.

Sotloff, who was 31, grew up in South Florida before attending UCF. His family established the Steven Sotloff Memorial Endowed Fund through the UCF Foundation to provide scholarships to students majoring in journalism, as well as funding for symposiums, lectures and other programming to advance journalism and journalism education. For additional information or to contribute to the fund, visit .

His family also established the 2Lives Foundation in Miami, which creates endowed scholarships for students seeking a career in journalism.

The words punch the elevator button in our memory, and trolley up freighted meanings and classroom images from our innocent years in fourth grade.

For the spacious skies of Montana.

Amber waves of grain, swirling and roiling across an ocean of Kansas wheat fields.

Purple mountain majesties reigning over Colorado.

The fruited plain of Napa Valley, seeping into our consciousness like a sepia-toned National Geographic photograph.

From sea to shining sea – sunrises in Kennebunk, Maine, to sunsets in Monterey Bay, Calif.

But you really don’t have to go that far to see America the Beautiful.

I saw it just a short walk from my campus office on the night of Sept. 3.

As daylight yielded to darkness, about 400 UCF students, faculty and staff gathered around the university’s Reflecting Pond, lit candles and refused to let the darkness win.

We were there to pay our respects to Steven Sotloff – a fellow UCF Knight and an American journalist who only days before had been brutally and mercilessly beheaded by the hooded cowards of ISIS.

We were there to not only honor his life and his work, but also the central principle that his life and work stood for.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.’’

To me, the tumbler keyword that has always unlocked the First Amendment’s power and made it work in our favor as a nation is the word “respecting.’’ The respectful way we relate to religion and religious differences��is what makes America truly beautiful. Yes, our history and present are tattered and checkered with moments in which we did not live up to our American creed. But by and large, we are predisposed – culturally and constitutionally – to respect the rights of minorities and those who worship differently. And that beauty was on full display that night at the Reflecting Pond.

God’s grace was shed on us as a Jew and a Muslim respectfully shared the same stage and the same microphone to pay their respects to Sotloff’s life.

Rabbi Chaim Lipskier read from the Torah, the Jewish holy scriptures, and urged his listeners to light their world. “‘The soul of man is the flame of God,’” Lipskier said, quoting Proverbs 20:27. “Every single human being is a candle. Our job is to be that candle and to light our candle. One small candle of truth, of loving kindness, of integrity, of selflessness dispels a lot of darkness.’’

As the rabbi’s words rolled across the Reflecting Pond into the night, carried by a gentle September breeze, Jaber Nyrabeah of the Syrian American Council in Orlando stood near him, listening intently and respectfully. He didn’t fidget. He didn’t scowl. He didn’t visibly bristle – even as a man from another faith read from a holy book different from his own.

When it was his turn, this proud and defiant Muslim lit his own candle and held it up to ISIS’ darkness.

“ISIS, which claims to be an Islamic state has nothing to do with Islam,’’ Nyrabeah said passionately. “In fact, they should be called the UnIslamic State of Iraq and Syria. They are trying with all their power to hijack my religion and my revolution, and they must be stopped.’’

It is these moments that make America beautiful. A Muslim and a Jew and Christians and Hindus and agnostics and others of no faith can light a candle and share at the table of what Lincoln so aptly called “sweet reasonableness.’’ They can realize, as the Catholic priest and television producer James Keller once said, “A candle loses nothing��of its light��by lighting another candle.” That doesn’t happen everywhere – especially the Mideast, the birthplace of both Lipskier’s and Nyrabeah’s Abrahamic religions.

And it’s this “sweet reasonableness’’ – this respect – that is exactly the anathema of terrorists around the world, whether they wear the executioner’s hood for ISIS in Syria or they don the white sheets of the Ku Klux Klan in our country.

Indeed, when the Central Florida Future’s newspaper account of the candlelight vigil for Steven Sotloff was shared on Facebook, an ISIS sympathizer claiming to speak for “the righteous beings from Asia, South Asia and Middle East’’ chimed in to “rejoice” that Sotloff was killed because he was a Jew. The writer boldly prophesied that America would be decimated because of its tolerance of Jews, homosexuals and others deemed undesirable and fit only for “clinical trials on lethal diseases to safeguard humans and worthy life forms.’’

Not in my America the Beautiful. And not as long as we crown our good with brotherhood.

Rick Brunson is an associate instructor of journalism in UCF’s Nicholson School of Communication. He can be reached at richard.brunson@ucf.edu.

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ISIS terrorists kidnapped Sotloff more than a year ago while he was working as a freelance journalist in the Middle East.

The vigil begins at 9 p.m. Wednesday in front of the Reflecting Pond on the main campus. ��The pond is located between Millican Hall and the library. Those planning to attend are encouraged to park in Garage A, located near the College of Education and Human Performance.

The event is geared toward giving UCF students an opportunity to pay their respects according to the UCF chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, which is organizing the vigil.

The group organized the event via Facebook and in two days has had more than 300 people view the page.

“Our UCF family mourns Steven’s death, and we join millions of people around the world who are outraged at this despicable and unjustifiable act,” said UCF President John C. Hitt.