Ian Miskelley: Celebrating His Life and Legacy One Year Later
9/7/2021 4:40:00 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Rowing, Women's Swimming & Diving, Features
By Kyler Ludlow
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The passing of men's swimming and diving student-athlete Ian Miskelley last September came as a shock to the University of Michigan community. One year later, the legacy Ian left behind is having a tremendous impact in a multitude of ways.
Ian's family, friends, teammates and coaches have chosen to honor his memory through the Ian Miskelley Hope Scholarship, the Be Better Mental Wellness Center in his hometown of Holland, Mich., and an on-campus initiative -- the Intercollegiate Athlete Network, or IAN --Â that aims to create a peer-to-peer network, expanding and deepening the level of mental health education.
Ian Miskelley Hope Scholarship
First and foremost, the family of Ian Miskelley and head swimming and diving coach Mike Bottom have announced the Ian Miskelley Hope Scholarship fund.
"Ian was known for his compassion and generosity to others, and the endowment of this scholarship is just one way that his legacy will live on at the University of Michigan," said Bottom.
This scholarship goes beyond performance in the pool or classroom, but rather represents the characteristics and ideals that Ian demonstrated. The recipient is someone that is looking out for the underdog, helping younger teammates get acclimated to college life. Most importantly, perhaps, it is someone who will go out of their way to make someone else feel loved.
"When Ian died a year ago, I said 'I want to do something to make some good come out of this' and it took a while for that to take shape," said Ian's father, Steve Miskelley. "But in talking with Coach Bottom and the development department, Coach quickly said he wants to memorialize Ian for the good person he was and the things he tried to do to help people."
The swimming and diving program and Miskelley family are proud to announce the first recipient of the Ian Miskelley Hope Scholarship is junior Cam Peel.
"We are very pleased that Cam is the first recipient of the scholarship," said Miskelley. "Cam was Ian's teammate from years ago in club in Holland (Michigan), so they knew each other for a long time and we've known the Peel family for a long time."
"Cam was one of the first people to console us and meet us from the team when we were in Ann Arbor," Miskelley added. "He definitely demonstrates the character, caring and looking out for the underdog that we were looking for to name that first recipient."
The hope is that by endowing this scholarship and looking for these characteristics, it will further enhance that culture within the swimming and diving program. It was something that made Michigan stand out from Ian's very first recruiting visit.
"Ian said after his visit to U-M, 'This team is truly a team. They enjoy each other and look out for one another. They hang out and truly enjoy being together.' And more than anything, that's what attracted him to Michigan," explained Miskelley.
The Ian Miskelley Hope Scholarship started with donations from the Miskelley family and other families of the Michigan team. To date, it has raised more than $211,000, with the hopes of raising more. To help support the Ian Miskelley Hope Scholarship, visit the direct giving page on the University's Leaders and Best website.
Be Better Mental Wellness Center - Hometown Initiative
Meanwhile, on the west side of Michigan in Ian's home town of Holland, the Miskelley family has partnered with a local mental health expert to launch the Ian Miskelley Be Better Mental Wellness Center.
"We were so eager to engage with Michigan to carry on Ian's legacy because after we dropped him off that first time, Ann Arbor became his home," said Miskelley. "But at the same time, we live in Holland. We have a tremendous personal support network here, but I wanted to create something in Ian's name that goes beyond that.
"The Be Better Wellness Center exceeds the current setup for mental health care in Ottawa County. The idea is that Be Better will coordinate all the care under one roof. We want to fill in the gaps of a broken system.
"If you muster the courage to call because you're having a mental health crisis," Miskelley explained, "I'll come get you and bring you back to Be Better where there will be psychiatrists on staff who are available for drop-in, emergency appointments. I want to build a relationship with the patient as soon as they walk into the door, because that in itself is a Herculean task for someone that is struggling with a mental health crisis. To muster that strength and courage is often times the most that they can do."
Be Better has partnered with a local agency called Mosaic Counseling that pairs patients with a counselor based on specific needs, profile, personality, and other qualifiers. Mosaic provides Be Better with two to four therapists at any given time, while Be Better gives office space in return. In addition, Be Better has plans to partner with Ottawa County's mobile crisis unit with hopes to be able to directly help people going through a mental health crisis.
"Ian was always the guy who saw in others the struggles he himself was dealing with," said Miskelley. "He was always the one who said I want to try and help the other person. So we said, we obviously couldn't help him, but if I can save one person from this fate, then we will have accomplished much. And I think that to me is the legacy we're trying to carry forward for Ian."
IAN – Intercollegiate Athlete Network
Back in Ann Arbor, Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) mental health chair and current rowing senior Caroline McGee has done her own part to make sure Ian's legacy lives on. McGee, along with the help of Director of Athletic Counseling Abigail Eiler, Athletes Connected Program Director Rachel Amity and members of the men's swimming and diving team, have started a student-athlete-run organization called Intercollegiate Athlete Network, or IAN for short.
"Ian was always someone that would reach out to others," McGee said. "It didn't matter if it was his best friend or someone he just met, he would say, 'Hey, you're having a hard time. What can I do to help?' and we want to remember that."
The mission of IAN is to create a peer-to-peer network, expanding and deepening the level of mental health education provided to student-athletes, coaches, and all athletic department staff to include not only the common symptoms and indicators of mental disorders or illnesses, but also warning signs of potential mental health crisis.
"We want people on teams to reach out to other student-athletes across teams," explained McGee. "We want people to develop connections to people they may not have talked to otherwise. We're going through this incredible and truly amazing journey of being student-athletes, but it's not easy. We all understand to some extent the grind of the classroom and sport. Who better to understand one another than ourselves? Leaning on each other is going to be really powerful."
The Miskelleys never knew McGee or about her friendship with Ian, but she and the organization's co-creators have the full support of the family.
"We are eternally grateful and are so impressed with Caroline," said Miskelley. "She and Ian were friends, and we didn't even know. To see her take it upon herself to do this in his honor is just so incredibly moving and we will be forever grateful."
Though IAN is just starting on campus at Michigan, the hope is to move beyond the borders of Ann Arbor soon.
"Everyone in the organization has so many ambitions to reach as many people as possible," McGee explained. "We want Ian to be remembered and pass that along to people everywhere, not just to U-M or schools in the Big Ten. We want this to touch as many lives as possible so that everyone can feel like there's a place for them and we're all in this together as a massive community."
"It would live out a part of who Ian was," said McGee. "He was such an incredible person, and we're trying to take his actions and attitude and keep that alive."
Being a student-athlete at the University of Michigan was a dream come true for Ian Miskelley. With the help of his family, the Wolverine swimming and diving family, and his friends, his legacy will live on.
"The student-athletes at Michigan are such high-quality people," said Miskelley. "To know Ian was able to be around a group of people like that, that high-caliber, that high-character, that fulfilled a lifelong dream for Ian."
Players Mentioned
