Walter was always a fighter and of sound mind until the very end of his life. But as his body succumbed to his second cancer in less than 10 years, one promise gave him joy and solace: a perpetual memorial scholarship fund that will afford young people from disadvantaged backgrounds an opportunity to pursue their educational dreams.

 

This scholarship represents Walter’s legacy and the aims and values to which he dedicated his life: Educating and empowering marginalized or otherwise socioeconomically disadvantaged people.

 

Walter was truly a unique force of life and multifarious in talents and interests. As a philosopher, he inquired into the fundamental questions of human existence, meaning of life, and civil society as it relates to political economy. As a logician, he investigated the problems of soundness and completeness of logical systems, and truth and validity in various forms of argumentation. As a personal fitness coach and self-defense instructor-in-training who admired the techniques, rhythm, and mastery of mind and body, he learned from experts who became inspired by his example to realize their potential and become better versions of themselves - as did the rest of us. And just when you thought you could define and thus bound him, he would surprise you with yet another endeavor we wanted to master, whether it be art, poetry, music, skateboarding, interior design... He was a gentle and generous soul who took each and every one he met seriously and gave them their due respect, who listened earnestly to those needing an ear or material assistant, and who sought to learn and grow as he heard other people’s stories. He was not only a problem solver - an inquisitive, deep thinker who looked beyond the surface and always five steps ahead - but a kind and empathetic person who loved life and others, and whose wit and astute humor broke his intensity and rigor and exposed the many textured layers of his persona.

 

And yet, if Walter’s life had a singular purpose, it was to effect societal change through political struggle and activism. Since his early teenage years and until his last days, he was deeply involved in political organizations that educate and empower prisoners, immigrant populations, and other exploited people in the U.S. and around the world. He organized political rallies, study groups, book drives for prisoners, film showings and discussions, contributed to newspapers and other publications, and maintained his own blog with articles on important questions and topics. His penultimate accomplishment was co-authoring a book titled On Necro-Capitalism: A Plague Journal. He worked tirelessly to expose racism, classism, and injustice, and spared no energy to fighting the good fight. And his final project was his own philosophy book - a lifelong endeavor that was at last materializing after years of his working out the philosophical problems of the day with his colleagues around the world. Hopeful that he still had up to five years to live, in the summer of 2021 he dove headfirst into writing the book - but alas did not have a chance to see it all come together and put his stamp on the world.

 

Nevertheless, there is so much to Walter's life and personality for us to memorialize and celebrate. And in the spirit of his legacy, we are establishing the “Walter Salgado Memorial Scholarship” to support young people who have a thirst for knowledge and societal change. The goal is to maintain this scholarship for years to come, awarding up to four students per year, each for up to four years. Thank you for remembering Walter with your own stories, and for contributing to his legacy.