Endowed Scholarship Named For Late Alum

Lain Ehmann
13 Sep 2020

Inspiring. Loving. Determined. No single word captures the spirit and energy of Stacy Ann (Hawes) Melle ’91. Though she lived with a chronic genetic disease, her desire to make an impact never lagged, nor did her energy. Her memory lives on in the people she impacted at Santa Clara University, and in a new scholarship in her name for SCU undergrad women in communication.

Born on Feb. 18, 1969, Stacy was diagnosed at age 2 with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease affecting the respiratory and digestive systems. While she knew that her time on earth might be curtailed, her dreams were not.

Stacy chose SCU for its small and vibrant community. She was active in her sorority, Alpha Phi, and graduated cum laude with a B.A. in communication and a minor in Spanish.

At SCU she developed a special connection with Paul Soukup, S.J., who would later perform both her marriage and funeral Masses.

Upon graduation, Stacy pursued her dream of a career in media. Most recently she was vice president of marketing for NBCUniversal Media.

Cystic fibrosis made walking between buildings draining for Stacy Melle ’91. Seven years after graduation, she received a double lung transplant that helped her breathe more easily. To learn more about becoming an organ donor, visit organdonor.gov. / Photo courtesy Melle family.

She served as president of the SoCal chapter of Women in Cable & Telecommunications, and was named as one of the industry’s most promising executives by The Hollywood Reporter.

A true lover of life, she was passionate about travel, fine food and wine, and her extensive network of friends, many of whom dated back to her Bronco days.

One of Stacy’s favorite quotes comes from Eleanor Roosevelt: “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”

Stacy passed away Oct. 10, 2019, and was preceded in death by her father, Col. William Hawes, and survived by husband Kelly Melle, mother Anna Hawes, brother and sister-in-law William and Terri Hawes, and numerous extended family members.

To find out more about the Stacy Ann (Hawes) Melle Endowed Scholarship, please visit mysantaclara.scu.edu/giving/melle.

Endowed Scholarship Named For Late Alum

Though she lived with a chronic genetic disease, Stacy Ann (Hawes) Melle‘s ’91 desire to make an impact never lagged, nor did her energy. Her memory lives on in a new scholarship in her name for SCU undergrad women in communication.

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