Maria Udalova, who graduated from Brookline High School this month, will attend George Washington University this fall with her first year fully paid — thanks in part to a scholarship awarded in the memory of a lifelong resident.
Udalova, who helped found Brookline’s Students for Nuclear Disarmament club and lobbied at the U.N. as a junior, is one of 17 students from the Class of 2025 to receive scholarships from Brookline High’s Alumni Association.
“It’s important to show young people that they are cared about and that people are invested in our futures,” said Udalova, who plans to study international affairs, “especially right now when there’s so much going on in the world.”
About $10,000 of student scholarships were funded by alumni donations and the association’s annual charity golf tournament, held June 13.
The alumni association was founded in 1990 to build a network of Brookline graduates, help organize class reunions and raise scholarship money for current students. It has hosted the annual golf tournament as its only fundraiser for 31 years.
The scholarship Udalova received is named for Brenda Moran, a member of the Class of 1965 who lived in Brookline her entire life until her death in 2020. Moran was named to Brookline’s sports hall of fame in 2012 for her accomplishments in field hockey and softball, and she was named a Greater Boston League all-star in both sports.
Her niece, Caroline Moran, travels from Texas each year to support the community and golf tournament, which was renamed in her aunt’s honor in 2020, even though Caroline has never lived in Brookline.
Although she was awarded less than $2,000 — which may seem insignificant compared to college tuition — Udalova said the scholarship will have a huge impact on her family’s finances. The money is expected to cover the balance after her other scholarships are deducted, making her first year of college free.
Sarah Smolyar, who also won one of this year’s scholarships, will attend UMass Amherst in the fall, where she anticipates double majoring in business and math.
“It’s just gonna make everything a little bit less stressful,” Smolyar said, “especially since everything’s gonna be new and different, it’ll just take a little bit of that off.” Smolyar, whose mother, Olga, graduated from Brookline in 1990, is one of several recipients this year with an alumni parent.
This year the tournament hosted 40 golfers — a drop from previous years that attracted around 100 participants.
“We need more golfers,” said Paul Deletetsky, a member of the Class of ’69.
Deletetsky grew up across the street from Robert T. Lynch Municipal Golf Course, where the tournament was held, and participated for his fourth year.
New golfers, like Tara Sales, were also in attendance. A 2006 alumni, Sales played alongside her father and brother, who participate each year.
The golf tournament and alumni association are both searching for fresh faces.
“Unfortunately, what we’re finding is that we’re having a really hard time finding younger people that want to be involved,” said Marcy Kornreich, Class of ’74, the alumni association’s newsletter editor and former president. “I think that’s a challenge a lot of organizations are facing, especially nonprofits.”
Kornreich acknowledged the tournament has become more demanding, with much of the planning falling on her and 83-year-old treasurer and president Stanley Goldberg. She said attending the scholarship ceremony for the first time reminded her why she got involved in the alumni association to begin with.
“When we walk through the halls, they’ve done a lot of renovations on the school,” she said, “but it feels like the same place and the same sort of vibrant spirit and commitment to individual success, whatever that looks like.”
Abigail Ketema, the only recipient to attend the golf tournament, will continue her education at Wentworth Institute of Technology, where she plans to major in architecture.
“The amount of stress taken off my family — and definitely other families’ backs — is just, like, incredible,” Ketema said, “and I don’t know how else to say thank you.”
