When German Nolivos ’26 became president of the University’s Student Government Association (SGA) in 2024, he noticed something curious in his new email signature: “Sandy Phillips Student Government Association Office.” Like many students before him, Nolivos wondered, “Who was this person, and why was the office named after him?”

That question led Nolivos on a journey that would result in the renovation of the SGA office to honor a young leader whose life was cut tragically short 37 years ago.

Frederick Sandford “Sandy” Phillips was one of 35 Syracuse students who died in the terrorist attack of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988. Nolivos set about furthering Phillips’ legacy as a student leader by highlighting his presence in the office.

Phillips was not a typical college student. At 27 years old, he had already worked in his father’s Arkansas business for three years before deciding to continue his education at the School of Management (now the Whitman School). After transferring credits from the University of Arkansas, where he had started his college journey, Phillips arrived at Syracuse as a junior with a sharper vision of what he wanted: to widen his horizons through intellectual challenges, travel and participation in student government.

Phillips was a talented musician, athlete and poet—whose Southern charm and infectious personality made him unforgettable. But it was his character that truly set him apart.

“He had this contagious personality,” says John Mandyck ’89, G’92, who served as SGA president when Phillips was operations vice president. “He always had this bright twinkle in his eye, like the world was full of endless possibilities. He was always positive with a can-do spirit.”

Phillips didn’t shy away from campus involvement. He dove in with both feet, becoming a driving force in the SGA. One of his signature accomplishments was leading a campaign to install lighting on the Quad.

“That was Sandy’s project,” Mandyck says. Phillips navigated through different parts of the administration, scheduling meetings and pushing the initiative forward. When the lights finally came on, a small group gathered to celebrate. It epitomized everything Phillips stood for: detail-oriented work focused on the greater good, making campus a safer, more welcoming place for everyone.

“He was always concerned about what other people thought, what other people felt and really conscious of what was the greater good,” Mandyck says.

Ensuring a Legacy Lives on Forever

On Dec. 21, 1988, Phillips was returning home from a semester abroad in London, carrying Christmas gifts and stories to share with his family. He was aboard Pan Am Flight 103 when a terrorist attack brought the plane down over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 people on board and 11 on the ground. Phillips was among 35 students who spent the fall semester studying in London and Florence through the University’s Division of International Programs Abroad, now Syracuse Abroad.

For decades, Phillips’s memory lived on primarily through scholarships and events. The SGA office bore his name, but beyond a line in an email signature, few current students knew his story.

That changed when Nolivos, a 2025-26 Remembrance Scholar who had spent nearly every day in the office since his freshman year, decided it was time to truly honor Phillips’s legacy. During an office renovation project coinciding with the organization’s name change from Student Association back to Student Government Association, Nolivos saw an opportunity.

“We need to change our name, we need new furniture, we need storage,” German recalls thinking. “This is the perfect opportunity to showcase the history that’s been hiding in drawers.”

Inspiring Future Generations of Leaders

A colorized photograph of Phillips now hangs prominently on the wall, alongside historical plaques tracking SGA leadership through the decades. A quote from Phillips’s own poetry, retrieved from University Archives, is now emblazoned on a wall to inspire students. A letter from President George H.W. Bush, which had sat forgotten in a corner, now has a place of honor. New signage will soon be added to the office’s main door.

“The whole office tells a story now,” says Nolivos. When new members join and ask about the photograph, current leaders can point to Phillips’s image and share his impact.

Nolivos has found his own inspiration in Phillips’ story. He wrote about Phillips in his Remembrance Scholar application, recognizing that the space where he worked every day represented something profound: a 27-year-old student who brought business experience, maturity and genuine care for others to make his campus community better.

“I think he would be proud to see that we have a space like this, especially that it’s named after him,” Nolivos says. “Each year there are students like my team members and me making sure we’re remembering this and that new students know why we are this way.”

Mandyck believes Phillips would be humbled by the recognition, but proud of what the scholarships and Remembrance accomplish: empowering good people to do good things, uniting communities across continents and keeping alive the spirit of service that defined Phillips’s too-brief time at Syracuse.