Our Story
When their son Max began his freshman year at Chapman University, Karen Dantzler and Eric Lilavois flew to Southern California to help him move in. Max had driven down that morning, his car packed to the brim with belongings. The family stayed in a hotel the night before move-in, Karen and Eric confident they had planned for everything — checklists reviewed, bedding and towels packed, supplies carefully purchased in advance. Yet as the next day unfolded, the true cost of getting started revealed itself — not only the airfare, hotel, and meals, but also the inevitable forgotten essentials that meant multiple trips to Target the next day: laundry detergent, hangers, a second pillow.
It was during one of those drives that Karen asked the question that would become their calling.
"How do families less fortunate afford all this?"
The question resonated deeply. Eric remembered arriving at NYU from Long Island with little more than a set of milk crates and a stack of records — grateful to be there, yet conscious of how different his experience felt from classmates who showed up with carloads of belongings and coordinated dorm sets. Karen also arrived at NYU, alone as a Dance Major with one suitcase, and a few boxes that were shipped from California. Together they understood how easily the gap between resources and readiness can shape a young person's sense of belonging. For many students, those disparities surface even before the first class is taught.
Eighteen months after Max's drop-off, during a reflective hiatus from a successful career as a hospitality executive, Eric felt a pull he couldn't ignore. He formed a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and, with Karen, provided the seed funding for what would become the Campus Ready Foundation. Eric brought his operational expertise — building systems, designing applications and creating scoring rubrics, while Karen, having parlayed her dance career into a 30-year business of customized personal fitness, poured in her entrepreneurial tenacity. Together, they turned one heartfelt question into a mission.
When they began sharing their vision, the response was immediate. A respected business leader confided that he too had arrived at college with almost nothing, a memory that stayed with him despite all he had achieved later in life. Another offered corporate support. Story after story echoed the same truth: even the most accomplished adults still remembered what it felt like to start out unprepared.
Campus Ready Foundation was born from the belief that no student's potential should be diminished by the stress of simply getting started — because a strong beginning, with dignity intact, can change everything.
How do families less fortunate afford all this?
They don't. Until someone decides they should.
Every grant we award starts with a donor who understood what it costs to begin — and decided to help.