The Pride Center is proud to offer two different funding opportunities for our UT campus community: the Scholarship Fund and Program Fund. All funding opportunities are available to the UT Knoxville community only at this time and utilize the generous contributions of donors to support the success of students through scholarships and inclusive educational programming.
Scholarship Fund
The Pride Center Scholarship Fund honors and awards students who have demonstrated a commitment to advocacy for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community at the University of Tennessee, the local Knoxville community, and/or throughout eastern Tennessee. Scholarships through the Scholarship Fund are open to all applicants regardless of religion, sex, gender identity, sexuality, national origin, citizenship, disability, or veteran status. Five Volunteers will be awarded $1,000 per academic year, with the funds dispersed in $500 increments at the beginning of the fall and spring terms through the financial aid process.
The selection criteria are as follows:
- The scholarship will be available to any full-time student, either undergraduate or graduate, that demonstrates a commitment to advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the local Knoxville community, and/or throughout eastern Tennessee. In addition to the demonstrated commitment to advocacy, applicants’ financial need will also be taken into consideration during the review process.
- Applicants must complete and submit the attached application in its entirety. A resume must also be submitted in addition to the application. One additional page may be included to detail information requested in the application if necessary. A personal bio is required, and applicants agree to have their bio and photo published on the Pride Center website and social media if selected. The recipients also will be publicly named and honored at the annual Lavender Graduation Celebration event.
- Applicants agree that their financial need will be determined by the Office of Financial Aid and included with the information to be considered by the selection committee.
- Applicants must submit one letter of support from a faculty or staff member outlining the student’s academic achievements and contributions to the University of Tennessee and/or Knoxville community.
- The scholarship is intended to be a one-year scholarship. Previous recipients are not eligible to receive the scholarship more than once.
- All recipient(s) will forfeit their scholarship if they do not remain eligible to study at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville campus or upon transferring to a campus other than the University of Tennessee, Knoxville at the beginning of each semester the scholarship is to be awarded. The selection committee may then re-award the remaining funds or return them to the scholarship fund for the following academic year.
The selection of the recipients will be made by the Scholarship Fund committee with representation from different departments and units across campus.
Program Fund
We will be opening applications for the 2023 – 2024 program cohort on Friday, April 1, 2023.
The Program Fund offers mini-grants of up to $2,000 to UT faculty, staff, and departments for programming, events, and other initiatives focusing on gender identity, sexuality, the LGBTQ+ community, student support, and other related topics. Potential projects will be funded based on:
- The project sparks change: Your project should have a measurable impact on our campus and/or local LGBTQ+ communities.
- The project is intersectional: Your project should include queerness intersected with other historically underrepresented identities (e.g., disability, ethnicity, race, region, socioeconomic status).
- The project focuses on an advanced topic: Your project should offer something beyond the scope of the Pride Center’s typical programming.
The selection criteria are as follows:
- The lead applicant must be a UT faculty member or full-time staff member.
- Priority will be given to events/programs that involve multiple campus constituency groups. For example, priority would be given to a program with BOTH a student-focused workshop and a campus-wide presentation rather than just a campus-wide presentation.
- Applicants should be prepared to complete their project before the end of the fiscal year and must provide a written report detailing how funds were used and what the outcomes of the project were.
- We are particularly interested in funding projects that present opportunities for collaboration with other campus partners, departments, and faculty members, as we believe that change is easiest when we all work together. We highly encourage collaborations between departments/units, but collaboration is not required of applicants.
- Funds may be used to support programming and research projects that directly benefit UT and/or the surrounding Knoxville community. Funding may not be used for F&A or to support faculty salaries. Mini-grants are intended for one year only.
- Applicants can receive up to $2,000/per request. Please note that all awarded funds must be spent before the fiscal year end (June 30).
- The Pride Center is happy to provide support in the form of advertising events but is otherwise unable to provide labor or additional support beyond basic help.
- While preparing materials, applicants are encouraged to consult the program funding rubric. We will update this page to include the rubric by April 1.
The program timeline is as follows:
- Application period: Friday, April 1, 2023 through Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at 11:59pm
- Successful grantees notified: Wednesday, May 31, 2023
- Program period: July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024
We will be updating this section soon! Please check back on April 1.