by Lauren Eney 

George-Ann Sauer will never see her son achieve his dream of being a sports journalist, but she is trying to give other students the opportunity.

Sauer, 41, of Raleigh, is working to endow the Michael John Sauer Scholarship in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UNC-Chapel Hill to honor her son, who died Sept. 3, 2006, at age 20 in a car accident.  

Michael was a student at Wake Technical Community College who dreamed of one day anchoring ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” Almost immediately after his death, Sauer knew she wanted to create a scholarship in his name so that his memory would live on.
“I feel so ripped off,” she said. “He was supposed to meet all these different people and be a great journalist. This is the very least he deserves.”

Sauer, a software quality engineer for MediClick, makes a $264 contribution to
the fund every month.

Her gifts and several memorial contributions total $6,100. She needs a total of $20,000 to launch the endowment. If she continues to make monthly contributions without outside donations, the scholarship will be endowed in four-and-a-half years.

Speed Hallman, assistant dean for development and alumni affairs for the school, said he is confident Sauer will succeed in getting the scholarship endowed.

“It’s a unique case,” he said. “But she’s truly committed to it, and she’s going to make it happen.”

Gifts to the scholarship are invested in an endowment, and annual income from the fund will provide a $1,000 scholarship in Michael’s name every year.

“It’s an ideal way to create a memorial that will last forever,” Hallman said.

Ever since elementary school, Michael knew he wanted to be a sports journalist. His father, Dave Sauer, a truck driver from Mount Olive, said that Michael constantly learned facts and statistics to add to his sports repertoire.

“When he did something that he enjoyed, he did it well,” Michael’s father recalled. “He made it his mission to learn everything about it.”

Because Michael dreamed of majoring in sports communication at the school, and because he was a UNC basketball fan, Sauer said it seemed natural to create the scholarship here.

George-Ann Sauer said that Michael had the intelligence, charisma and looks to be an anchor on ESPN, and she expects great things from the recipients of the scholarship.

“I almost feel bad for them,” she said with a smile. “Those students have a lot to live up to.”

Wearing Michael’s class ring on a chain around her neck and his jacket and watch, Sauer choked back tears as she spoke of the son she loved so much.

“He made me the person I am today,” Sauer said. “He did so much for me. I owe him so much.” ♦

Lauren Eney is a senior in the school’s news-editorial sequence.