University president mourns close friend, founder of Equal Chance for Education

By Jasmin Enriquez Martinez

Staff Writer

Dan Boone viewed Michael Spalding as more than just a work partner. He was a friend.

Boone recalls the first time he met Spalding after funding a student’s college education who had no access to financial aid. After witnessing that student’s journey, Boone felt compelled to do more. That’s when he met his longtime friend, Mike.

Spalding, the founder of Equal Chance for Education, an organization that has provided scholarships to more than 500 Tennessee students who are first-generation immigrants, died on Dec. 11, according to his obituary in The Tennessean.

ECE was founded in 2014 and offers students up to a $25,000 scholarship to attend one of the 15 universities that partner with the organization. The organization was founded after Spalding realized that one of his friend’s daughters who had been in the United States since she was 8-months-old and had outstanding high school academic records could not afford to attend college because she could not apply for any federal or state aid, including student loans.

Students in the scholarship program average a 3.27 GPA and maintain a 96% retention rate.

Both Spalding and the organization he started became very special to Boone.

After an initial meeting several years ago where Boone and Spalding connected and shared their experiences, they began working together.

“I said, ‘Well, let’s work together on this. Let’s figure out a way,’ ” said Boone.

Spalding soon had an office space at Trevecca where he mentored students.

ECE scholarship students often visited Spalding at his office, and those who knew him personally would visit him a thome, according to Boone.

Mayerly Soto, a Trevecca alum and scholarship recipient, is one of the many people who met Spalding at an ECE yearly event.

“He was very kind, and he was willing to take the time to get to know us,” said Soto. “There are so many students with ECE that it meant a lot that he took the time to ask my name and what my major was.”

Soto now works as a case manager and serves as a youth leadership coordinator at her church.

“It motivated me a lot more as a student,” said Soto. “I knew there were people behind me who were pushing for my success.”

Soto reflected carefully about what she would say if she could meet him again.

“I would first and foremost say thank you, and I would commend his genuine want to help,” said Soto. “He genuinely cared for all of the students that he helped.”

According to Boone, Spalding viewed Trevecca as a place that lived out what they believed even when faced with challenges.

“He gave me one of the highest compliments for Trevecca – ‘I’ve been in the machinery of your university, and you are Christian to the bone. Your care for DACA students is a genuine expression of your faith,’” said Boone.

Along with being work partners, Spalding had a special friendship with Boone.

The two would send each other funny stories and their best jokes and eat together while trying to open more doors for students, said Boone.

“Mike was my friend. He was my friend and my brother,” said Boone.

On Dec. 24, 2024, Boone shared a heartfelt message on Facebook after attending a Service of Witness to the Resurrection.

“I want to be like Mike,” said Boone at the start of his message.

Throughout the message, Boone describes Spalding’s devotion to human needs and students at Trevecca.

“When I retire, I want to be like Mike,” said Boone, ending his message about his friend.