Joseph Harry Endowed Scholarship

The Joseph Harry Endowed Scholarship provides tuition scholarships to undergraduate students who have participated in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer-spectrum (LGBTQ+) organizations or activities.

Background

The endowment for the Joseph Harry Scholarship Program was established through the generosity of Dr. Joseph Harry, who taught in the NIU Department of Sociology from 1977 to 1998. During that period he did considerable research in the area of then-called gay studies and was also the faculty advisor for several years to NIU's LGBTQ+ student organization, then called the Gay/Lesbian Union (now known as Prism).

General Criteria

• Scholarships will be awarded on the basis of financial need, scholarly performance and academic standing.
• Scholarships are awarded for one year.
• Scholarships may be renewable for a second year at the discretion of the scholarship committee if the student maintains satisfactory academic standing (a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 in all NIU credit earned and of 2.0 in the major).
• Scholarships shall be awarded on the basis of merit without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, immigration status, political affiliation or any other factor unrelated to professional qualifications, as defined by university policy.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for the Joseph Harry Scholarship, applicants must:

• be junior or senior undergraduate students (as defined by credit hours) at Northern Illinois University during the academic year for which the scholarship is awarded
• have financial need,
• demonstrate satisfactory academic standing (a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale as computed by NIU standards) at the time of application for the scholarship,
• demonstrate satisfactory scholarly performance. Indicators of scholarly performance might include but are not limited to, such things as participation in academic, scholarly or professional organizations; participation in undergraduate research opportunities; enrollment in honors courses; election to honor societies; receipt of academic awards or honors; application of academic lessons in intentional experiences outside the classroom.

Confidentiality of Application and Award

• Scholarship application materials will be handled confidentially and will be seen only by the faculty and staff members of the scholarship committee and those professional staff members of the Gender & Sexuality Resource Center who have a role in handling the documents.
• The words gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer or LGBTQ+ do not appear on any of the financial forms where the scholarship is listed, so it is possible to keep the nature of the award confidential if you are selected as a recipient and decide to do so.

Application Requirements

• To be considered for this scholarship, applicants must apply through the NIU MyScholarship application system.
• A supplemented statement on LGBTQ+ leadership/involvement within the application system.
• One letter of recommendation from a faculty/staff member submitted through the application system.

Selection Process and Timeline

• All applications will be reviewed by the Scholarship Committee.
• All applicants will receive notification of selection results during the spring semester.

Questions

Please direct any questions about the Joseph Harry Scholarship to: