16 December 2009
Applications are now available for Iowa's 2010 Matthew Shepard Scholarship Program honoring openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Iowa high school seniors.
Gold Eagle Awards are valued at $35,000 over four years and pay full tuition, books and fees at one of Iowa's three state universities: Iowa State University, the University of Northern Iowa or the University of Iowa. Silver Eagle Awards are an initial award of $500 that ay grow to a value of $7,000 may be used at any college or university in the United States.
All scholarships are renewable annually for up to four years upon evidence of academic achievement and continued service to the LGBT Community.
To date, the Matthew Shepard Scholarship Program has committed over one million dollars in honoring one hundred and five Iowans from across the state.
Scholarships are presented in each student's high school awards assembly, and at a statewide awards dinner in Des Moines on June 4, 2010.
Iowa's Matthew Shepard Scholarship Program is named in the memory of Matthew Shepard, a student at the University of Wyoming was brutally murdered ten years ago, because he was gay.
The Scholarship Program is underwritten and awarded by the Rich Eychaner Charitable Foundation.
Additional information about the scholarship program and application materials are available at www.eychanerfoundation.org. Tickets for the scholarship awards dinner go on sale March 1, 2010.