Gay Scholarship Rights Institutional Wrongs
We’re not sure if you’ve heard, but college can get expensive. Thus, it should come as no surprise to hear that thousands of high school graduates opt out of higher education to focus on stuffing their coffers for future academic endeavors. Hoping to stem the trend among homos, North Carolina gay couple Tim and Neil Griffin founded the Griffin Scholarship, $2500 awarded to two Carolinian gay students annually.
Though PFLAG and other organizations have been doing similar scholarships for years, but Tim Griffin says more must be done, particularly because of discrimination among particular institutions:
There are kids out there who can’t get access to military scholarships, or church scholarships, or even the financial support of their family, because they have come out as gay. I want these kids to understand that there are people who want to help, even when other organizations turn them away.
Two kids will benefit each year, and this year the prize went to Juan Vazquez and Azze Waldron, who are psyched to attend school this fall. Whether they’ll be so enthusiastic after the scholarly madness begins remains to be seen…
That’s pretty fantastic.
It’s a great idea – but Queerty has failed to notice the Point Foundation. It’s the largest LGBT Scholarship organization, this year alone supporting 91 LGBT students with an average scholarship amount of $13,200. They also hold a summer leadership conference for their scholars and have a mentorship program for the world’s future queer leaders.
If anyone is helping queer students that for one reason or another cannot afford college, it is definitely Point.
Check out the organization and the 2008 scholar class (just announced this past month) here: http://www.pointfoundation.org