Students can now apply for the UMA AFUM Social Justice Scholarship!
For this inaugural year, we will be awarding two $300 scholarships. We have a short deadline for submissions.
To apply, submit your name, your student ID#, your major, and approximate credit hours to date. Please also include a personal statement (not to exceed three double-spaced pages) that includes the following:
a) information regarding their personal experiences and academic and professional goals as they relate to equity, diversity, inclusion, or social justice and
b) their past, present, or future academic or activist work that demonstrates investment in social justice, diversity, equity or inclusion issues or initiatives.
Please submit your application to Sarah Hentges at sarah.hentges@maine.edu by April 30, 2021. In future academic years, this scholarship will be awarded via UMA’s General Scholarship form.
UMA AFUM Scholarship for Social Justice
The University of Maine at Augusta (UMA) Associated Faculties of the Universities of Maine, MEA/NEA (AFUM) Scholarship for Social Justice was established in February, 2020 with an initial gift from members of AFUM.
In 2020, Maine’s bicentennial year and a watershed moment for recognizing the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice, we are marking this moment as a time of action — to provide support to students who exemplify our faculty’s commitment to increasing the benefits of a diverse, equitable, and inclusive learning environment and a more just society. UMA’s chapter of AFUM is dedicated to a safe, inclusive, and fair university.
This scholarship will support our commitment to expanding access to education and professional development and ensuring that the learning and working environments we shape are inclusive in serving diverse constituents and groups of people. The scholarship will be awarded annually and will be focused on diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice.
We encourage applications from members of marginalized communities—including students from diverse and historically underrepresented backgrounds; students from inner cities, rural communities, underserved or under-resourced communities; and first-generation college students. At UMA, we value people of all races, genders (including gender identity or expression), sexual orientations, marital statuses, disabilities, citizenships, ages, religions, and national origins. We value differences in lived experiences and welcome applicants to speak to the diversity of their personal, individual challenges with regard to accessing educational or other opportunities.
Applicants should demonstrate personal, educational, or professional investment in social justice and/or diversity, equity, or inclusion initiatives in the areas of racial diversity, sexual orientation or gender identity, disability, veteran status, single parents, incarcerated people, or in another relevant area. Recipients will be selected based upon the contributions they have made to UMA and/or their community in the past and/or the ways in which they seek to contribute to an inclusive, diverse, equitable, and socially just academic environment, at UMA and beyond.
Applicants are required to have a GPA of 3.0 or above. Applicants must complete the application (available via UMA’s General Scholarship Fund webpage) in order to be eligible for consideration. Applicants must also provide a personal statement (not to exceed three double-spaced pages) that includes the following: a) information regarding their personal experiences and academic and professional goals as they relate to equity, diversity, inclusion, or social justice and b) their past, present, or future academic or activist work that demonstrates investment in social justice, diversity, equity or inclusion issues or initiatives.