Love Like Sean: Gies Business alumnus, family honors son’s legacy with scholarship

Sean Patrick Richards was a competitive boy, and he had a gift for words. Among the many games at which he excelled, he was virtually unbeatable at Scrabble. He was incredible at spotting the clever combinations and finding ways to score the most points with the simplest words. But Sean’s knack for words went far beyond the game. He somehow always knew the right thing to say to encourage a friend, to share joy, to make someone laugh. His parents, Brian and Kristine, also have a million words of their own to describe him: kind, funny, artistic, strong, curious, compassionate. They are words that, like Sean himself, fit together to make a far greater impact than the sum of their letters.

In 2023 at the age of 14, Sean was tragically killed when he was struck by a vehicle while walking on a sidewalk in his hometown of Hinsdale, Illinois. In the wake of their loss, Sean’s family knew they wanted to channel their grief into something that would reflect his remarkable spirit. They created the Love Like Sean Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to spreading joy and encouraging acts of kindness – just as Sean did in his short, but impactful, life.

“When the world loses someone as special as Sean, we don’t want him to be forgotten,” said his father, Brian. “The Love Like Sean Foundation is a way for us to make sure he’s not forgotten. We want to perpetuate what he did, what he loved, and what he stood for.”

Through the foundation, Sean’s parents and older siblings Conor, Grace, and Finn organize running races and clothing and book drives, partner with Ty Inc. on thousands of “Love Like Sean” Beanie Babies to distribute to children in hospitals, create scholarships for local schools, and lead community projects that encourage compassion and inclusion. A hallmark of their movement is painting and leaving “Love Like Sean” rocks as small tokens in public places to remind people to smile, be kind, and share love.

Now, that spirit has found a home at Gies College of Business. Brian – a 1989 Gies Business alumnus with a degree in finance – and Kristine have committed $1 million through their foundation to fund the Love Like Sean Scholarship at Gies. The scholarship supports Gies Business students who lead through kindness, build community through compassion, and live each day with purpose and love.

“We didn’t want the scholarship to be about grades or test scores,” Brian said. “It’s about character: the students who go out of their way to include others, who lift people up, and who make their world a little brighter. That’s how you ‘Love Like Sean.’”

Launching in Fall 2026, the Love Like Sean Scholarship will support four Gies Business sophomores, with awards renewable through graduation. Each year, a new group of four scholars will join, eventually forming a 12-member community of “Love Like Sean Scholars.” Beyond financial assistance, the Richards family hopes the scholarship will cultivate a close-knit network of students who do good for their community and inspire one another to lead with empathy and generosity.

“We want to reward students who are kind and know to do the right thing,” said Sean’s mother Kristine. “Maybe the scholarship money means they don’t need to work during the semester or they can accept a more personally rewarding job instead of the one that pays the most money. I hope that just receiving this scholarship and knowing what it’s about will encourage Gies students to keep doing great work.”

“Kristine and I are both huge believers in the power of education to transform a student, a family, and entire generations,” said Brian. “If it weren’t for the University of Illinois, we wouldn’t have the opportunity or ability to be where we are today. And our way of honoring Sean is to support students who live out his values and to educate people about who Sean was.”

Sean was a Boy Scout and an altar boy who loved his family fiercely and brought laughter to everyone around him. He was known for his kindness and generosity; he was always the first to welcome a new student, befriend a less popular student, or lend a helping hand.

“Sean was everyone’s friend, a connector among his classmates,” Kristine said. “Other parents would tell us that when their kids were with Sean, they knew they’d stay out of trouble. Sean knew the difference between right and wrong. In business, ethics is very important; we want to reward students who will use their business degrees to make a positive impact.”

Despite the fact that neither Kristine nor any of their children attended the University of Illinois, the Richards remain deeply connected to and believe in the mission of the university and Gies College of Business. Their family loved going to Champaign to watch Illini basketball and football games, and Sean and Brian were lucky enough to watch the Illini football team beat Minnesota, while on the field, just eight months before Sean was killed. For several years, Brian has guest lectured at Gies with his classmate and friend, Professor Rob Metzger. The College’s Business on Purpose promise resonates with their family, as it relates to thinking about one’s role in the world, their contributions, and their responsibility to others. Brian and Kristine themselves received help along their college journey through scholarships, and they have always focused their charitable time and attention on education and opportunity. These are some of the many reasons why a scholarship at Gies Business is a perfect way to help extend Sean’s legacy.

“There a good chance Sean would’ve been the first of our children to attend the University of Illinois. He was a huge Illini fan” Brian said. “I know from experience how formative a Gies Business education can be, and we want to help students reach their educational goals regardless of their current financial circumstances.”

“We want to encourage students to be selfless and to pass along love,” added Kristine. “That can be offering a smile to someone, a kind gesture, genuinely saying ‘thank you’ to a bus driver or crossing guard. You just don’t know what people need that day.”

In life – like in Scrabble – Sean always found a way to make the most impact with the shortest words: joy, heart, care, smile, light. They’re simple letters that can change lives. With each scholar the Richards family supports, with each act of kindness done in Sean’s name, they place another word beside his: enduring through continued heartbreak to find purpose and meaning and to ensure that Sean’s story will always spell love.