Associate Director of the Waterfront Program Ryan Dilkey expresses surprise with the unveiling of an endowment named in his honor, as Trustee Dar Keblinskas looks on. Photos by Penh Alicandro ’22
A fixture at Eckerd College since the 1990s, Associate Director of the Waterfront Program Ryan Dilkey ’98 has guided decades of students through the Waterfront and the Eckerd College Search and Rescue Team.
Now, his longtime service will be commemorated for future generations of students with the creation of the Ryan Dilkey ’98 Endowment for EC-SAR. Spearheaded by a generous $100,000 gift from Crystal Moser McCormick and Dain McCormick—friends of Dilkey and his wife, Jenn—the endowment will support EC-SAR in its mission of education through service and keeping Tampa Bay boaters safe.
“Throughout these years, you have instilled in our students high levels of self-respect, responsibility and esprit de corps that are crucial for the success of our students and the team as a whole,” Waterfront Program Director Renee Register ’83 said during the announcement of the endowment. “Ryan, we are all grateful for what you have given to us and are proud of what you have accomplished. Whether you like to hear us say it out loud or not, we all love you very much.”
Dilkey was surprised with the unveiling of the endowment at the annual campus banquet honoring EC-SAR students on May 15. Friends from his college days and family traveled from near and far to attend, prompting Dilkey to joke that he had thought a surprise announcement of his retirement might be coming.
Dilkey (center) with friends Crystal Moser McCormick and Dain McCormick
“You’re lucky we’re on the clock; otherwise, I’d have a long speech for you,” he told those gathered that evening. “Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this.”
The EC-SAR Team was founded in 1971 in an effort to provide safety services for the College’s watersports activities. In 1977, EC-SAR extended its rescue services to the Tampa Bay boating community. EC-SAR received its first test of international proportions when the team was one of the first rescue units to respond to the Skyway Bridge disaster in May of 1980. The program has since grown to become one of the most respected search and rescue organizations on the West Coast of Florida.
Dilkey served on the EC-SAR Team as a marine science student and began working as shop supervisor at the Waterfront after his graduation in 1998 but was called up to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard in 2001, post-9/11. He returned in 2006 as EC-SAR coordinator, rising to assistant director and then associate director of the Waterfront Program.
“He’s always there to support us through the hard times, push us to overcome obstacles and celebrate our successes,” says Lydia Hughes, a rising marine science senior and EC-SAR Team member from Hampton, Virginia.
“He helps students look at problems from all angles, encourages our critical thinking skills and never fails to provide a new perspective. Ryan has touched countless lives through EC-SAR and the Waterfront, and I’m incredibly grateful to be able to learn and grow under his mentorship.”
Crystal Moser McCormick, a Dilkey family friend behind the endowment’s establishment, says that after learning more about EC-SAR and the Waterfront, she and her husband wanted to do something that would benefit the program long-term. They asked that their gift—made in honor of her parents, John and Janis Moser, through a family trust—be used as a match challenge to raise $100,000 from friends of the Waterfront. Eckerd supporters have already given $60,000 to the endowment in response to the challenge.
“As Florida natives, we think it’s important for everyone living here to learn boating safety skills to truly value and appreciate our environment,” Moser McCormick says. “Ryan’s steadfast dedication to the program and its students over his tenured career is a testament to why EC-SAR has grown to such an impactful status. His influence touches the community through his team’s rapid responses on the water and positively affects the lives of all under his leadership.”
