Scholarships

LGBT Center Scholarship Application Deadline: March 1, 2025

Scholarship awards will be determined by funds and donations available at the time the scholarships are granted. The scholarship is a one-time award provided directly to the financial aid office of the University of Louisville.

All scholarships will require a personal statement (max 750 words). Below are questions you may use to guide your response: 

  1. What makes you a good candidate for this scholarship? 
  2. What are your goals while enrolled at UofL? 
  3. What are your goals after completing an undergraduate degree? 
  4. What extracurricular activities, social justice movements, or other activities are you currently involved in? Be sure to highlight any activism or advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community. 
  5. How do you plan to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community in the future? 

Bourke DeLeon Endowed LGBTQ+ Catholic Scholarship 

Established in 2018 by the University of Louisville Alumnus Greg Bourke and his husband Michael DeLeon, the Bourke DeLeon Endowed LGBTQ+ Catholic Scholarship will be awarded to subsidize the cost of higher education at the University of Louisville, with preference given to students who are a member of the LGBTQ+ and Catholic communities

Qualifications: To apply you must meet the following qualifications: 

  • Plan to be seeking an undergraduate degree at the University of Louisville in the upcoming academic year 

  • Be enrolled for at least 6 credit hours at the University of Louisville 

  • Minimum GPA: 2.5 

  • Be a graduate of a Catholic high school, identify as Catholic and be active in and supportive of the LGBTQ+ community, or seek to enhance the connection between the Catholic and LGBTQ+ communities 

About the Namesakes: Greg Bourke is a 1979 graduate of the University of Louisville College of Arts and Sciences. While attending graduate school, Greg met his husband Michael DeLeon at the University of Kentucky in in 1982 and the couple has been together over 35 years. They were legally married in Canada in 2004, and they were plaintiffs in the landmark US Supreme Court case Obergefell vs. Hodges that established Marriage Equality for the entire country. Greg and Michael are lifelong practicing Roman Catholics, having been active members at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Louisville for over 30 years. They were named 2015 Persons of the Year by the National Catholic Reporter. Greg was also a founding member of the University of Louisville Pride Alumni Council. 

Established by the University of Louisville Pride Alumni Council in honor of Brian Buford, founding Executive Director of the UofL LGBT Center, the Brian Buford Endowed Pride Alumni Scholarship will be awarded to subsidize the cost of higher education at the University of Louisville, with preference given to LGBTQ+ students. 

Qualifications: To apply you must meet the following qualifications: 

  • Plan to be seeking an undergraduate degree at the University of Louisville in the upcoming academic year 

  • Be enrolled for at least 6 credit hours at the University of Louisville 

  • Minimum GPA: 2.5 

  • Demonstrate active support for the LGBTQ+ community. Applicants are not required to be part of the LGBTQ+ community but must show a dedication to advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community 


Dawn Wilson Scholarship for LGBTQ+ Students of Color

 

 

Established by alumnus Joey Feldman (Kent School of Social Work, 2010), the Dawn Wilson Scholarship will be awarded to subsidize the cost of higher education at the University of Louisville for undergraduate LGBTQ+ students of color.



 


Qualifications: To apply you must meet the following qualifications: 

  • Plan to be seeking an undergraduate degree at the University of Louisville in the upcoming academic year 

  • Be enrolled for at least 6 credit hours at the University of Louisville 

  • Minimum GPA: 2.5 

  • Demonstrate active support for the LGBTQ+ community. Applicants are not required to be part of the LGBTQ+ community but must show a dedication to advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community 

About the namesake: Dawn Wilson has been a social justice activist for 20 years in transgender civil rights and the intersection between transgender identity and other human rights issues. She organized the first Transgender Lobby Days event in 1995, helping train transgender people to lobby congress, and was the first chair of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) in 2000. Dawn has held leadership roles with the Fairness Campaign, the Council for Fairness and Individual Rights (C-FAIR), the Kentucky Division of the United States Fencing Association, the Edenside Christian Church, the Douglass Blvd Christian Church, and the Louisville Metro Human Relations Commission. 



 


Additional Scholarships

The following scholarships and scholarship databases may be of interest to LGBTQ+ and allied students but are not tied to the University of Louisville LGBT Center:

Ken Terrill Memorial Award
Deadline: See link below to A&S scholarship page

The College of Arts and Sciences  gives an annual award to a student who demonstrates leadership in the LGBTQ+ community, in memory of the late Ken Terrill, a professor of Theatre Arts from 1978 to 1994. The fund was established by his family, co-workers, students, and friends. This award is available to students university-wide.

Find more information about the Ken Terrill Memorial Award here: http://louisville.edu/artsandsciences/students/scholarships 


Credit Donkey LGBTQ+ Scholarship Database

A guide of nearly 200 scholarships, internships, and nonprofit resources for LGBTQ+ students. Visit https://www.creditdonkey.com/resources-lgbtq-students.html


Davis-Putter Scholarship Fund


The Davis-Putter Scholarship Fund provides grants to students actively working for peace and justice. These need-based scholarships are awarded to those able to do academic work at the university level and who are part of the progressive movement on the campus and in the community. Early recipients worked for civil rights, against McCarthyism, and for peace in Vietnam. Recent grantees have been active in the struggle against racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of oppression; building the movement for economic justice; and creating peace through international anti-imperialist solidarity.

For more information, including deadlines, eligibility, and other requirements, visit https://davisputter.org/


Human Rights Campaign Scholarship Database

The Human Rights Campaign hosts a scholarship database for LGBTQ+ and allied students on their webpage here: https://www.hrc.org/scholarship-database/c/national 

Deadlines, requirements, and eligibility vary for each scholarship in the listing. 


Transgender First National Scholarship

The first national scholarship exclusively dedicated to helping underserved Transgender students get affordable access to a college education. Applicants must identify as Transgender, plan to pursue a degree, or currently pursuing a degree, at an accredited U.S. post-secondary institution, have a high school diploma or GED, and be a U.S. Citizen. Awards are annual and based on eligibility, financial need, personal hardship, academic merit, and other related considerations. 

For more information visit https://www.onlinedegree.com/transgender-first-scholarship/ 


Zippia Scholarship Listing

Zippia, a job and scholarship search website, offers a listing of  "30 LGBTQ Scholarships for Higher Education"

"Individuals within the LGBTQ community are already faced with enough obstacles in their daily lives that they don't need the added stress of figuring out how to pay for a higher education. Through the means of finding 30 scholarships dedicated to supporting the community, we're hoping to alleviate some of that stress. Many scholarships go unapplied each year, which means lots of money goes unused. So make sure you check out these scholarships while you're planning your educational future." - Zippia

LGBT Center - Belknap

Cultural & Equity Centers

120 E. Brandeis Ave.

University of Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky 40292

Phone:(502) 852-0696

Office Hours

Diversity & Equity Centers on Belknap Campus are open 
M-F 9am-5pm

HSC LGBT Center is open
M-F 9am-5pm

Social Media

LGBT Center - HSC

500 S. Preston St.

A Building, Room 209C/D

Louisville, Kentucky 40292

Phone:(502) 852-5861