UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The LGBTQA Student Resource Center, a unit of Penn State Student Affairs, recognizes students each year with scholarships that are open to any LGBTQ+ students attending Penn State.
"We are so grateful to be able to offer financial assistance to our LGTBQA+ students through the generosity of donors and alumni,” said Sonya Wilmoth, assistant director of the LGBTQA Student Resource Center. “The students who have been selected to receive these awards all demonstrated a tremendous amount of work and involvement in the community. Each of them has contributed in some way to helping create a more inclusive environment for LGBTQA+ students on Penn State's campuses. We are looking forward to acknowledging their accomplishments publicly at our Lavender Graduation celebration."
This year’s scholarship recipients were Kurtis Miller, David Falk, Liz Schoppelrei and Daniel Marshall.
Miller received the Barry H. Marshal Scholarship. This scholarship was created to provide recognition and financial assistance to an outstanding undergraduate student who has advocated for or contributed to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community. Miller is a junior studying animal science with minors in poultry and avian sciences, and international agriculture. Miller is involved as president and co-founder of Students for Cultivating Change, a group working to promote inclusion and visibility of the LGBTQ+ students in the College of Agricultural Sciences.
Falk received the Marc David Foundation Award, which recognizes an outstanding undergraduate student who has achieved academic success and has demonstrated leadership and advocacy in the LGBTQA community at the University through their involvement in the LGBTQA Student Resource Center. Falk is a junior majoring in mathematics and secondary education with minors in French and Spanish. Falk is the president and co-founder of Receiving with Thanksgiving, Penn State’s LGBTQ Christian network. He is also the former president of oSTEM, Penn State’s professional network for LGBTQ students in STEM fields, and spoke at the 2017 oSTEM national conference about the intersection between the faith, LGBTQ, and scientific communities.
Schoppelrei received the LGBTA Alumni Interest Group Scholarship, which recognizes the contributions to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community achieved by an undergraduate or graduate student. Schoppelrei has a bachelor's degree in Spanish from Wright State University is currently a graduate student in the comparative literature program. Schoppelrei is a mentor in the LGBTQA Mentorship Program, secretary of the Graduates in Languages and Literatures, and a member of the Reading for Future Collective.
Marshall received the Masel-McClin LGBTQA Scholarship, which provides recognition and financial assistance to an outstanding undergraduate student who advocates for or contributes to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and ally community. Marshall is a junior in architectural engineering. He is involved in the LGBTQ Student Roundtable, Ignoble Entrepreneurship Club, Illuminating Engineering Society, and the Student Society of Architectural Engineers.