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SALISBURY, MD---In 1985, Gary Desjardins arrived in Salisbury from Concord, NH, without a penny in his pocket. When making his college decision, he knew he wanted to attend a Division III school where he could play football, and while he wanted to chart his own course, he didn’t want to stray too far from home. After visiting then Salisbury State College for the first time, his future was made. He packed up his 1978 Honda Civic and prepared to make the long drive to Delmarva on his own.

“I got here, a kid just starting out, and I came to love ºÚÁÏÍø and never left,” Desjardins said. In 1988, he graduated from SU’s Franklin P. Perdue School of Business and planted his roots.

Desjardins is now an owner of Strat-Wealth, a financial and estate planning company established in 1991 with the mission of serving others to make lives better. He still has friends he played with on the SU football team, serves on the SU Foundation Board and remains involved with events, such as its Golf Classic.

“I love SU, and everyone knows it,” Desjardins said. “This University is the best thing Salisbury has to offer.”

Pride in his Alma Mater inspired Desjardins to donate $25,000 through his company to establish the Strat-Wealth Financial Planning Scholarship for Perdue students. Starting in 2022, the scholarship will award $1,000 to one student majoring in finance with a financial planning track each year. Special consideration will be given those with financial need.

For Desjardins, his donation is about more than just giving back to the institution where he got his degree. He believes the University is not only the most progressive part of the area, it’s also growing and brings skilled professionals into town. He has seen the results firsthand.

Of the eight employees Desjardins has hired at the Strat-Wealth office in Salisbury, five are SU alumni. Some have been with the company for 15 years, and his most recent hire is a 2018 graduate of the finance program. Even after several decades of changes, Desjardins is still impressed with the quality of graduates who come out of SU’s programs.

“They’re all superstars. I keep going back for more,” Desjardins said. “I wanted to support other students who are studying through SU’s Perdue School, which is absolutely outstanding.”

Desjardins has seen a lot of changes happen at SU since he arrived on the campus 35 years ago. He watched Perdue Hall and the Guerrieri Academic Commons go up, and has seen the football fields he once played on transformed into the impressive Sea Gull Stadium that student-athletes and community members enjoy today. Serving on the SU Foundation Board, he gets to see the future of the campus, as well.

To him, that future looks very bright.

“I showed up here and knew not a soul in this town. Now, it’s home,” Desjardins said. “This town is great, and the University is the best part of it.”

Join the or email the SU Foundation, Inc. at ahwaters@salisbury.edu to learn more about scholarship endowments.