A graduate of Drexel's MFA class of 2022, Tyler Duggan was more than just a writer with a love for the surreal and the abstract; he was a presence of kindness and empathy. The sudden void left by Tyler's passing in June 2025 from complications due to his congenital heart condition was a profound loss for everyone who knew him.
Tyler possessed a rare generosity of spirit, extending his patience and genuine care to everyone, often going out of his way to ensure others felt included and heard. He had an innate ability to connect with people, to truly listen to their stories, and to offer support. His passing away at 38 years old leaves a narrative unfinished. Tyler's life held a story of quiet strength as he endured numerous heart surgeries and hospital visits from a young age. He leaves behind a wife and a daughter, and a story that was still being written.
This scholarship was created from the desire to honor that unfinished narrative, to continue his legacy of compassion, and to foster the voices he also tried to uplift.
The Tyler Duggan Memorial Scholarship will be a prize for dreamers and storytellers, just like him. Each year, we'll award a $500 scholarship to one or two second-year MFA students who submit their most heartfelt, mind-bending, and abstract work.
This is more than a financial award. It's a way to keep Ty's empathetic spirit alive. It's a way to ensure that the stories he loved to hear and write—the quirky, the zany, the surrealist, the abstract—continue to be told. The scholarship money helps students with the financial burdens of graduate school, but the true value is in continuing the cycle of generosity and support that Ty embodied.
When you give to the Drexel MFA gift fund in memory of Tyler Duggan, you are helping to support a new generation of writers, lifting them up in the same way Ty lifted up everyone around him. You're helping them to find their voice and tell their stories, as he would have wanted.
You can contribute to the Tyler Duggan Memorial Scholarship by following these instructions:
Go to giving.drexel.edu/MFA
Click on "Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program"
Check the box that says "This is in memory of someone."
After clicking 'Next' you may add the information to designate this gift is in memory of Tyler Duggan.
Your gift, big or small, will help keep Ty's story going, one page at a time.
Our goal in 2025 is to raise $5,000 to sustain this scholarship for at least the next ten years. This will ensure that Tyler's memory and legacy of support continue to help MFA students for years to come.
You can make a powerful, long-term impact by setting up a recurring donation, which will provide ongoing support and honor Tyler's commitment to others in a truly meaningful way.
We look forward to sharing the stories and writing of the students you've helped support. Thank you.