Academic Year 2025-2026

Recipients

Annual Penn State Traditional American Indian Powwow (University Park) [PY2]

“The Penn State Powwow has been a signature diversity event for the University and Central Pennsylvania community since it began in 2004. Additionally, it is regarded by Native participants as one of the finest traditional powwows in the east. Each year, the two-day event hosts approximately 6 American Indian drums, 200 dancers, 25 carefully chosen vendors, and 150 volunteers, drawing approximately 6,000 guests from Penn State and the Central Pennsylvania Community. Educational Equity was the first supporter and first funder of the Powwow. As the Powwow has grown over the years, so has the budget and each year we must seek additional funding Units within the University. With the 2024-25 budget year being so tough for Units as they adjust to the new budget model, we anticipate significant shortfall and will look to Educational Equity to continue to be a significant supporter, at a higher rate than in the past, to ensure that the Penn State Powwow continues.”

College of EMS Graduate Engagement and Mentorship Network (University Park) [PY3]

“The goal of our project is to continue to foster an inclusive environment for all graduate students within the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences through combatting feelings of fatigue and isolation, which are especially exacerbated for marginalized graduate students. Our program cultivates an inclusive space across departments through extracurricular engagement, namely: welcome events, resource workshops, and community building; all in collaboration with graduate student leaders and in coordination with graduate student-focused staff. Impacts of this project include: improved mental well-being and sense of belonging; increased knowledge of University resources for graduate students, especially marginalized graduate students; and a strengthened sense of inclusion, community, involvement and cross-disciplinary interactions.”

Expanding the field: A pilot program for recruiting historically excluded groups to graduate school in Geography (University Park) [PY4]

“We launched the Geography Education Networking Initiative for Underrepresented Scholars (GENIUS) with 2022-23 EOPC funds, which is a mentorship program to support racially underrepresented undergraduates applying to graduate Geography programs. We’ve organized workshops 2023-2024, with visiting students mentored by graduate students and faculty. We applied for Spencer Foundation and NSF funding in 2024, with decisions pending. This funding will provide a bridge until those decisions are made, enabling us to continue the program in 2026 and plan for 2027. It will also support data collection on the program’s impact and further our mission to assist racially underrepresented students in pursuing graduate study.”

First Generation Scholars Series (Lehigh Valley) [PY2]

“The Lehigh Valley First Generation Scholars Series is a retention initiative focused on supporting first-generation college students. This program aims to address the distinctive challenges faced by these students by fostering a sense of belonging, providing academic support, and nurturing leadership skills. Through engagement in various topics, the initiative seeks to enhance the overall academic journey and success of first-generation college students.”

From Campus to Career: Advancing Women’s Success (Brandywine) [PY1]

“The Commission on Empowering Women was established in 2020 to advance diversity and academic excellence. This proposed project aligns with our mission by funding events for our target audience: women and underrepresented students. In the 2025-26 academic year, we plan to organize a series of three guest talks delivered by professional external speakers from local STEM industries. Each talk will be followed by interactive, faculty-led sessions in which the talk topics will be workshopped and discussed, providing students with an opportunity to explore the subject in-depth within an informal peer setting. The goal of this project is to address the barriers that undergraduate students—especially women and those from underrepresented backgrounds—often face in professional environments. By offering practical skills training and mentoring from local professionals, the program will focus on developing soft skills such as effective communication, teamwork, and the confidence to tackle complex challenges in collaborative projects.”

G-Rise: Graduate Researchers for Inclusion, Scholarship and Equity at PSCOM (Hershey) [PY1]

“The G-RISE program builds on previous Diverse Graduate Student Group (DGSG) activities. Previously developed by and for graduate students at PSCOM, DGSG, and now G-RISE, are uniquely positioned to support graduate students from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds in science (e.g., underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities or from disadvantaged backgrounds, first-generation college students), international and LGBTQIA+. DGSG’s activities to date highlight a critical need for G-RISE, which will foster a welcoming and supportive campus climate for diverse graduate students through events that enhance their experiences as graduate trainees at PSCOM.”

Leadership Readiness Coaching Program for BIPOC Students (University Park) [PY1]

“The Leadership Readiness Coaching Program for BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color Students will be a year-long co-curricular leadership development coaching program tailored to meet the specific leadership development needs of BIPOC students by supplementing traditional leadership development coaching approaches with an emphasis on diversity intelligence to bring awareness and explore strategies to overcome the specific issues and barriers that BIPOC individuals faced in the workplace, including ethnocentrism, unconscious bias, and micro-inequities to support career advancement. The proposed year-long coaching program is part of the existing Leadership Readiness Initiative (LRI).”

Privacy Pedagogy for Open Inquiry and Student Expression (Berks) [PY1]

“Penn State University Libraries will facilitate the Privacy Pedagogy for Open Inquiry and Student Expression (POISE) Project using an original faculty development curriculum to support instructors in incorporating privacy pedagogy into their inclusive teaching praxis. The POISE Project is an instructor cohort that examines intellectual privacy and its relationship to learning, inquiry, and expression, and implements privacy pedagogy in learning design. Participating instructors will redesign course materials based on privacy pedagogy principles in order to enhance the campus climate for open inquiry and free expression with a purposeful emphasis on the experience of identity- and viewpoint-diverse students.”

Representation in Science at Eberly for Undergraduate Prehealth Students (University Park) [PY1]

“RiSE UP aims to support first-year students with historically underrepresented or underserved identities who have an interest in pursuing careers in the health professions. Over the course of the academic year the program will allow students to: connect with pre-health resources/advising, build a strong foundation in metacognitive awareness, and be immersed in healthcare-related programming and environments. With a goal of fostering a diverse scientific community and improving retention of students in science, the program ultimately seeks to impact future representation of the healthcare workforce.”

Student Disability Support Collaborative (University Park) [PY1]

“Research indicates that college students with disabilities experience higher levels of academic distress, less participation in campus activities, and less social support than non-disabled students, and that support services can improve outcomes (Fleming et al. 2018). The proposed student disability support collaborative (SDSC) is designed to increase engagement of students with disabilities (SWD) in support services by training counselor education interns to facilitate access to and provide effective psychosocial and vocational supports. The intended outcomes are to increase a sense of belonging of SWD, increase knowledge among student interns, and to conduct a program evaluation to inform and improve outcomes.”

Success Academy (Hazleton) [PY1]

“The Success Academy will assist 20 first-semester college students to enhance college success skills and acclimate to college life. This two-phase program runs from August to December of 2025 with goals of acclimating students to college life, resources, and rigor; increasing students’ one-year retention; decreasing the percentage of students entering Academic Warning; and increasing first-year GPAs. Post-completion, participants will become self-aware of their academic skills strengths and areas needing improvement; learn to utilize positive academic behaviors; identify, describe, and access appropriate campus/university resources for psycho-social, financial, and academic needs; and engage in activities that increase a sense of belonging.”

Summer College Opportunity Program in Education (University Park) [PY3]

“The Summer College Opportunity in Education (S.C.O.P.E.) is a four-week academically intensive enrichment and orientation pre-program dedicated to providing historically underrepresented students interested in education-related careers the opportunity to access Higher Education and experience college life during the summer session at Pen State University Park campus.”

The Rising Scholars at Penn State (previously called Pathways to Penn State (P2PSU) Formerly Incarcerated College Awareness Pilot Program (University Park) [PY5]

“Formerly incarcerated students are underrepresented in college, especially those from historically marginalized racial/ethnic and socioeconomic communities. The purpose of the Rising Scholars program is to instill the belief that college, including Penn State, is a viable option for formerly incarcerated adult learners in Pennsylvania, and to provide skills/tools to help make that option a reality. The 2026 Cohort will be the 5th year of Rising Scholars and remains part of a larger commitment to develop programming that supports the recruitment and retention of formerly incarcerated students at University Park and across the Commonwealth Campuses.”