Scholarships

The KIIS Study Abroad Scholarship supports student participation in a KIIS study abroad program. The Kentucky Institute for International Studies or KIIS is a non-profit consortium of universities and colleges that offers summer term, winter term, and semester-long programs in non-English speaking countries for WKU credit. The faculty-led programs include undergraduate courses taught in English, visits to points of interest in-country, and opportunities to engage with local communities. Recipients must be declared as anthropology or folklore majors/minors and have completed at least nine hours of coursework in their program of study. For more information contact the department.

The Anthropology Program offers the Drs. Du-Powell Scholarship in Anthropology to support student research and study abroad/away. The scholarship was established by Dr. Chunmei Du to honor the memory of her late husband, Dr. Lindsey Wells Powell, a member of the WKU Anthropology faculty from 2009-2014. Anthropology students who have completed at least 12 hours of anthropology courses are eligible to apply.  [to complete the application, open the document as read-only then save-as or duplicate the file with a new name]

The Ranger Alex Rose Memorial Scholarship Fund supports full-time students based on financial need. First preference is given to students who have a specific interest in working for the National Park Service or related agencies. Second preference is given to students who have successfully through-hiked the Appalachian Trail and are registered accordingly with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, possess experience in volunteer work or employment in outdoor recreation, or demonstrated involvement in an adventure club or other outdoor organization. Additional preference is given to students who meet these criteria but have overcome adversity or any major life obstacles that could have prevented them from attending college. If no students meet these criteria, must be a junior or senior classification who have overcome adversity and are majoring in a specific subject area including Anthropology or minoring in Folklore or other programs.

This Scholarship Fund is administered by the College Heights Foundation as a hybrid-endowed account. This fund is established in 2020 by faculty in the WKU Department of Society, Culture, Crime, & Justice Studies to demonstrate their belief in the importance of promoting DuBois’ dream of expanded access to education.

The principal of the fund will remain intact with only a portion of the earnings from investments used to make scholarship awards. However, the Donor has agreed to allow a portion of the principal to be spent until the fund reaches the endowment level to support that award in perpetuity. The Donor may also choose to supplement the annual scholarship award from additional principal gifts in subsequent years based on his/her/their discretion. The number and amount of awards will be determined based upon the development of the Fund, the rate of earnings, and other factors that affect the availability of funds in accordance with the spending policy adopted by the College Heights Foundation Board of Directors.

The following criteria will be used for recipient selection:

1. Must be enrolled as a full-time student at Western Kentucky University.
2. Must be majoring in the Department of Society, Culture, Crime, & Justice Studies.
3. Must convey the personal qualities of character, integrity, dependability, industriousness and human compassion which produce leaders and merit the honor of this award.

Although this award is not automatically renewable, recipients may reapply for consideration in future years.

Recipients will be selected by the scholarship committee from the WKU Department of Society, Culture, Crime, & Justice Studies. If no scholarship committee exists for the department, recipients will then be selected by the college scholarship committee.  All recipient information will then be forwarded to the University Scholarship Committee for approval. 

Applicants must complete an online WKU scholarship application, including a response to an essay prompt, prior to the published deadline each year. Award notification will be sent in the form of a letter from the University Scholarship Committee, with the letter to contain appropriate recognition of the Donor.   

Although the endowment’s designation is intended to exist in perpetuity, if at any time during the life of this Agreement it becomes impossible to satisfy the original intent as expressed in these guidelines, or if unforeseen circumstances alter or remove the subject area from the campus plan, the Foundation Board is authorized to re-designate the Fund to a consistent area of support after taking into consideration the intention of the Donor and designated purpose described in this Agreement.

The College Heights Foundation serves as the Guardian of Trusts and is responsible for and committed to the perpetual administration of this fund in accordance with the established guidelines, the policies of the Foundation, and the expressed intentions of the Donor.