Joey Lee Garmon Scholarship

Joey Lee Garmon, an African American male, was born August 20, 1947, in a predominately European American community. In this setting, it was not uncommon to have teachers and students engage in racial abuses in the classroom. When a person from a different racial/ethnic background walked down the street, he/she was often met with racial harassment. In addition, there was overt discrimination in seeking employment as a person of color.

Within this community, Joey Lee Garmon was unable to find sensitive nurturing of his cultural identity in either the school system or in the community. Like so many young people in desperate and hopeless situations, Joey Lee Garmon gave up on himself and turned to drugs. On August 30, 1972, at the age of 24, he committed suicide.

There are two different scholarships available. The Joey Lee Garmon Undergraduate Student Scholarship is directed toward students who have experienced oppression based on their race or ethnicity and who have a strong record and motivation to pursue social justice activism as a result of their experience. Applicants must complete an application and submit an essay that discusses how racial or ethnic oppression has affected them as individuals and how it has led them to pursue social justice activism. Applicants may be of any ethnic group.

The Department of Student Belonging will give out 5 scholarships total; 3 Multicultural Student Scholarships and 2 Social Justice Scholarships. Scholarship recipients will each receive $700.

APPLICATION

Applications are currently closed for this award. Please revisit this page for future updates.