Scholarships

Bourke DeLeon Endowed LGBT Catholic Scholarship 

Deadline for scholarship: May 1

Established in 2018 by the University of Louisville Alumnus Greg Bourke and his husband Michael DeLeon, the Bourke DeLeon Endowed LGBT Catholic Scholarship will be provided to subsidize the cost of higher education at the University of Louisville.

This endowed scholarship will be awarded annually giving preference to LGBTQ+ students who identify as Catholic, that have attended Catholic or public school, or to any student seeking to enhance the connection between the Catholic and LGBTQ+ communities. 

This scholarship reflects the Bourke DeLeon family’s commitment to supporting marginalized Catholic LGBTQ+ youth and the outstanding programming at University of Louisville that has earned it a national reputation as one of the most LGBTQ+ friendly and inclusive campuses in the country. 

The scholarship amount 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. 

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. 

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.
• Have a GPA of 2.5 or higher
• Demonstrate support for the LGBTQ+ community. Applicants are not required to be LGBTQ+ but can be Allies.
• Be a graduate of a Catholic high school, or identify as Catholic and be active in and supportive of the LGBTQ+ community, or seek to otherwise enhance the connection between the Catholic and LGBTQ communities.
• Be enrolled for at least 6 credit hours at the University of Louisville

Application opens in January. To be considered for this scholarship fill out the form linked here and attach your essay document. All answers to essay questions are required, and should be numbered as they are listed below. Include your name and student ID number in your essay document. Applications submitted without complete information will not be reviewed. All students applying for university scholarships must also complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at www.fafsa.gov

All essay questions are required, 500-750 words max.

1. What are your goals for your education?
2. What is your plan after you have completed all of your education?
3. What activities are you currently involved in? Be sure to highlight any LGBTQ+ involvement.
4. How do you plan on giving back to the LGBTQ+ community in the future?
5. What has been your biggest personal, financial, or academic challenge?
6. How did you hear about this scholarship? 

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Brian Buford Endowed Pride Alumni Scholarship 
Deadline for scholarship: May 1

The scholarship will be provided to subsidize the cost of higher education at the University of Louisville. Our goal is to empower undergraduate LGBTQ+ students at UofL by connecting them with financial, organizational and personal development opportunities to improve themselves an, in turn, our community. The scholarship amount 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. 

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.
• Demonstrate support for the LGBTQ+ community. Applicants are not required to be LGBTQ+ but can be Allies.
• Have a GPA of 2.5 or higher
• Be enrolled for at least 6 credit hours at the University of Louisville

Application opens in January. To be considered for this scholarship fill out the form linked here and attach your essay document. All answers to essay questions are required, and should be numbered as they are listed below. Include your name and student ID number in your essay document. Applications submitted without complete information will not be reviewed. All students applying for university scholarships must also complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at www.fafsa.gov 

All essay questions are required, 500-750 words max.

1. What are your goals for your education?
2. What is your plan after you have completed all of your education?
3. What activities are you currently involved in? Be sure to highlight any LGBTQ+ involvement.
4. How do you plan on giving back to the LGBTQ+ community in the future?
5. What has been your biggest personal, financial, or academic challenge?

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Dawn Wilson Scholarship for LGBTQ+ Students of Color
Deadline: May 1

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. The amount of the scholarship will be determined by funds available at the time the scholarships are granted.

Johnson-Campion Alumni Scholarship 
Deadline for scholarship: May 1

Established by graduate alumnus Paul Campion (College of Education, 1993) and his husband, Randy Johnson, the Johnson-Campion Scholarship will be awarded to subsidize the cost of higher education at the University of Louisville for students with strong financial need, with preference given to undergraduate students focused on advancing equal rights for the LGBTQ community. The amount of scholarship will be determined by funds available at the time the awards are granted, and will be managed by the LGBT Center at the University of Louisville. 

About the namesake: Paul Campion and Randy Johnson have been a couple since 1991 and were married in 2008, when gay marriage became legal in California, but their marriage was not recognized back home in Kentucky. As same-sex parents to their four adopted children, they were concerned about discriminatory laws that prevented them both from being legally recognized as parents, for example, if one of them died, the other had no rights to the children legally adopted in his partner's name. As a result, they joined three other Kentucky couples in a July 2013 lawsuit seeking recognition of their marriages by the state. Early in 2014, a federal judge ruled in their favor, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit struck down the ruling in November of 2014. By then, Paul and Randy had joined forces with the ACLU and other couples seeking marriage equality and were among six cases from four states that made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, which began hearing arguments in April of 2015 and in a landmark decision on June 26, 2015, ruled in favor of marriage equality. 

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 six credit hours.
• Have a 3.35 minimum GPA.

Application opens in January. To be considered for this scholarship fill out the form linked here and attach your essay document. All answers to essay questions are required, and should be numbered as they are listed below. Include your name and student ID number in your essay document. Applications submitted without complete information will not be reviewed. All students applying for university scholarships must also complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at www.fasfa.gov 

 All essay questions are required, 500-750 words max. 

1. What are your goals for your education?
2. What is your plan after you have completed all of your education? 
3. What activities are you currently involved in? Be sure to highlight involvement that supports the LGBTQ community. 
4. What has been your biggest personal, financial, or academic challenge? 

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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 

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.

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. 

PFLAG of Louisville Scholarship

Deadline: See link below to PFLAG scholarship page

Louisville’s PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) Chapter offers an annual scholarship to assist students with their post-secondary education. Qualifying applicants should:

• Be a resident of Ketuckiana or be attending a post-secondary education institution in Kentucky.
• Not have been awarded this scholarship in the past. Those who have applied and were not awarded the scholarship are encouraged to reapply.
• Be enrolled as a full-time student for the period of the scholarship.

The scholarship is a minimum of $500. The actual amount of the award may be more than $500 and multiple scholarships may be awarded.

Find more information about PFLAG Louisville at this website: http://www.pflaglouisville.org/PFLAG_Louisville/Home.html

Scholarships must be postmarked by the last day of February each year. 

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