The purpose of the committee and its current members
In order to encourage talented members of minority groups to pursue careers in Classics or Archaeology the Society for Classical Studies (SCS) administers a summer scholarship program for promising minority undergraduates majoring in the study of classical languages and cultures. The Committee on Scholarships for Minority Students, which consists of members appointed by the SCS, oversees the annual selection process and awarding of this scholarship. Applications for the summer of 2015 program are due in the SCS Office on December 15, 2014; in subsequent years, the deadline will also be in December.
Beginning in 1994, the Committee awarded one award each year; that number rose to two per year in 2010. Recipients have used awards towards summer study or research in the United States or abroad. All of the recipients of the scholarship have gone on, or are planning to go on, to graduate study in the Classics. The 2000 scholarship recipient, Emily Claire Jusino, wrote:
"When I left for Athens in June, I had no idea what to expect when I arrived. I was excited, nervous, and even a bit scared to finally be going to a place that had filled my imagination for so many years. Yet, none of my imaginings could have compared to Greece itself. From the airplane I recognized the landscape based on the descriptions I had heard. This land was the home of those who had changed my life: Euripides and Sappho, Homer and Hesiod, Plato and Aristotle. My whole being was tingling with anticipation.... Olympia, by far, was my favorite place. It captured me, heart and soul. Despite the record breaking heat, I stayed at the site long after the rest of my group had returned to the hotel just trying to capture in words how much the sanctuary moved me... It was the best-spent summer of my life. I hope to be able to return next summer as a student excavator on the agora dig... Thank you for helping me be able to attend the College Year in Athens Program. I can only hope that I have given you some idea about just how amazing this summer was for me."
The scholarship is indeed proving to be even more successful than originally imagined! But we need and want to do more.
Members of this committee face the task of formulating proposals on larger issues relating to minorities, while making the field of Classics more attractive, so that more minorities can be brought into the discipline. The committee regularly participates in activities designed to raise additional funds for the scholarship.
In addition to these duties, the Committee on Scholarships for Minority Students is always looking towards the future. Thanks to the generosity of the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation and the Friends of Michael Putnam during the SCS's recent Gateway Campaign for Classics, the Committee is now able to give two full scholarships each year. If resources grow significantly, a further goal would be to offer full-year scholarships to minority students studying the Classics. But we need your help! Please consider supporting this important effort. Find out how to make a donation at the SCS web site.
2015-16 Committee on Minority Scholarships
- Sonia Sabnis (2014-2017), Chair
- Gregson Davis (2013-2016)
- Katherine Hsu (2015-2018)
- Lawrence Kim (2013-2016)
- Angelo Mercado (2015-2018)
- Teresa Ramsby (2015-2018)
- Yasuko Taoka (2014-2017)