Student Experience
Bruce Lane Memorial Scholarship supports veteran students for over 16 years
The Bruce Lane Memorial Scholarship, named after late veteran and former UC Santa Cruz staff member Bruce Lane, supports veteran students at UC Santa Cruz.
A vintage photo of Bruce Lane, far right, at work at UC Santa Cruz, taken around 1964, shortly after he was hired by founding UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Dean McHenry.
At UC Santa Cruz, veterans, active-duty service members, and reservists are currently pursuing their education—while bringing with them unique experiences, discipline, and perspective shaped by their time in the military. For many, the journey to higher education is a historic one: sixty-two percent of veteran students nationwide are the first in their families to attend college.
Education, depending on how long an individual has served active duty in the U.S. military, may be covered under the GI Bill; however, funds for additional expenses will likely fall short. At UC Santa Cruz, veterans qualify to apply for the Bruce Lane Memorial Scholarship—named after the late veteran and former UC Santa Cruz staff member Bruce Lane.
Lane served in the Army Reserves for 35 years and worked at UC Santa Cruz as a project architect, educational facilities planner, and director of capital planning. He advocated for veterans, especially student veterans, believing academic scholarships would provide the support they needed to focus on their studies. In 2009, a year after Lane passed, the UC Santa Cruz Retirees Association awarded its first scholarship for veteran students. Three years later, the scholarship was named for Bruce Lane.
Bruce Lane’s wife, Maxine Lane, stays involved with the scholarship, raising additional funds by selling homegrown succulents. She worked at UC Santa Cruz for 22 years.
For the last 16 years, the Bruce Lane Memorial Scholarship has supported over 100 veteran students at UC Santa Cruz.
Sammy Tesfai (Oakes ’23, computer engineering; M.A. ‘24, computer engineering) was one of many Bruce Lane Memorial Scholarship recipients in 2024. He used the funds to cover his undergraduate senior design project. Although many of his education expenses were covered by the GI Bill, Tesfai said the scholarship helped alleviate additional financial stressors.
“The Bruce Lane Scholarship was especially helpful to me because the GI Bill does not cover summer expenses, leaving me with limited personal funds due to the high rent costs in Santa Cruz,” said Tesfai. “It gave me the opportunity to focus on my academic goals without added financial stress.”
Two years ago, Devin Burkland received the scholarship. Six years after serving in the U.S. Navy, Burkland decided he wanted to record and document veterans’ stories. He got his associate’s degree from Merced City College and transferred to UC Santa Cruz’s history department.
After a visit to the National Student Veterans Association Convention in Orlando, Burkland learned about the Veterans History Project. Run by the Library of Congress, the project preserves recollections of veterans who served since World War I to now. He wanted to contribute to the project, so he used his scholarship to buy recording equipment to start documenting veterans’ stories.
“Just talking about your time in service can be therapeutic—these stories should be told,” Burkland said. “The scholarship has been extremely helpful; otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to buy equipment.”
In honor of Veterans Day, you can make a lasting impact for UC Santa Cruz student veterans by contributing to the Bruce Lane Memorial Scholarship (or emailing giving@ucsc.edu), empowering student veterans to continue their education and achieve their academic aspirations.