A Sacramento State scholarship for veterans went to some who didn’t serve. Honoree’s mother asks why

A call to serve their country ran deep in the Linderman family.

McClatchy High School graduate Paul Linderman followed in his father’s footsteps and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force — but not before he enrolled at Sacramento State for his bachelor’s degree. 

“He saw that as essential,” Linderman’s mother Joyce Poirot, also a Sacramento State graduate, said of her son attaining his college education. He earned in 1987 a degree in communication studies. 

Linderman served for 21 years and died in 2009 at his home in Sacramento. To honor him, Poirot helped create a scholarship in his name for students in the Armed Forces who were honorably discharged. 

But for the fall 2024 semester — the first year money was awarded — not all of the four recipients were veterans, Poirot said and the university confirmed this week. 

“I don’t know how or why the scholarship funds were misappropriated and I am struggling to maintain my trust and confidence in the university,” Poirot wrote in an October letter to Sacramento State President Luke Wood.

The Paul R. Linderman Memorial Scholarship aims to honor his life “as a scholar and soldier by providing assistance for students in need who have served their country in the United States Armed Forces and who received honorable discharge status,” according to the scholarship. The scholarship on the university website following the above description, however, includes a bulleted list labeled “qualifications” that makes no mention of military or veteran status.

Sacramento State announced four recipients in 2023 who would each receive $1,000 toward the following year’s tuition and fees. Only one student was a veteran — one person’s status as a veteran was “unconfirmed,” and two others were dependents of veterans, according to a statement from university spokesperson Lanaya Lewis. 

“We understand the frustration this may have caused,” Lewis said in the statement, which also noted the university’s scholarship office awards more than 800 scholarships in coordination with campus partners.

The university’s veterans success center “unknowingly shared the scholarship with not only veterans but dependents of veterans,” the statement said. 

The university has offered to replenish the $3,000 to the fund and identified ways to improve its application process, according to the statement. Lewis said the university is committed to being good stewards of its donations. 

“Our Veterans Success Center provides critical support and resources to about 1,500 student veterans and dependents of veterans, one of the reasons we have been named one of the top colleges in the Western United States for veterans,” the statement said.

Poirot pushed back against the assertion thatthe veterans success center shoulders the sole responsibility.

“That’s maligning the veterans center.”

University officials have told Poirot the scholarship committee possesses the sole authority to select and award recipients, Poirot said. A university spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to follow-up questions about the role of the veterans center in the selection process.

Students may still apply to the Paul R. Linderman Memorial Scholarship by March 2, in its second cycle of eligibility, according to the university website.

Poirot seeks Sacramento State to adhere to the guidelines set in scholarships and the funds be restored to the scholarship. She hopes her son’s legacy is honored properly moving forward. Her estate plan once included funds for the scholarship and does still reserve money for the Renaissance Society and cardiovascular wellness program, both at Sacramento State. 

Linderman was bestowed 12 awards through his career serving his country, including the Air Force Commendation Medal lauding “meritorious achievement and service.” 

“It is important ... (to) me ... (I) honor him in ways that align with his values,” Poirot wrote in the letter to Wood.

Poirot declined to say how much she devoted to the scholarship, except to say the donation is a “sizable lump sum” and her intent was for the scholarship to continue “in perpetuity.” 

But she said she has instructed her attorney to amend her estate fund to remove funds devoted to the scholarship.

This story was originally published February 21, 2025 at 5:00 AM.