Scholarship Subcommittee Meeting – May 27, 2026
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Scholarship Subcommittee Meeting – May 27, 2026
The scholarship subcommittee of the Middletown LGBTQ+ commission met on May 27, 2026, at approximately 10:30 AM to review the single scholarship application received for the current cycle. The committee deliberated on the strength of the application and decided to recommend a $1,500 award. Members also discussed strategies to increase future applicant numbers.
Discussion Items
- The committee received only one application for the $10,000 scholarship fund. The applicant, a Middletown High School senior who identifies as pansexual, was not known to the advisor of the GSA or to committee members. Her essay was described as “weak” and not clearly demonstrating advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights, instead focusing on using art to reach people. One member noted that the essay seemed like a repurposed submission from another scholarship.
- The committee considered whether to award anything at all, but agreed that giving something would maintain the scholarship’s continuity and encourage future applicants. Initial proposals ranged from $1,000 to $2,000. After discussion, the committee settled on recommending $1,500.
- The members also discussed outreach challenges: only three applicants last year and one this year despite emails to local high schools, Upward Bound, and Wesleyan. They proposed a face-to-face meeting with guidance counselors in early 2027 to personally promote the scholarship and increase awareness.
Key Outcomes
- The subcommittee voted unanimously to recommend a $1,500 scholarship award to the applicant, Asia. The final decision rests with the full commission.
- The committee will present the recommendation at the upcoming Pride Fest, where the recipient will be recognized with a check.
- As a next step, the committee will schedule a meeting with guidance counselors from Middletown High, Mercy, Xavier, and Vinal in February 2027 to encourage more applications. The possibility of revising the scholarship rules to allow rollover of unused funds or adjusting award amounts will be raised with the commission.
Meeting Transcript
Out of the parking lot, so I'm blocking somebody in, but I'm listening. Okay. Uh let's see. Yeah. Hold on. Okay, I think it's recording. All right. So you're in the car, I see. Yes. I'm just uh I when we just ended practice and uh of course I'll the last car in, so I have to move to get all everybody out. And I'm going to be coming in council meeting after six o'clock. So it's hard to understand what you're saying. Kind of like roboty. Oh. Okay, sorry. I don't know that that's uh it'll probably be better to somewhere that actually has Wi-Fi as opposed to two bars right now. I'm gonna go next to the school so you can hear me better. Okay, it's getting better as you're okay. Yeah, my bars are okay. That's better. So we have um the only thing on our agenda is to um deal with the scholarship. We only received one application. You have you had the chance to review it. Did you have a chance to review it? Yep. Okay. Okay, all right. I can't hear you at all. Um I'm parked, I'm parked now. We're good. Okay, beautiful. Um, so basically we have a total of $10,000 we can award. We don't have to award 10,000. So um I I have my feelings about this application. Um so I feel like the only thing we really need to do is discuss um whether or not this person is um should be awarded something and how much that should be. Yeah, that sounds okay. Um, I just kind of felt like the application wasn't as strong as applicants we've had in the past. Um I don't know this particular student, but I know of her. Do you know her at all? I don't know her at all. Okay. Which is you know, which like off the bat being a Middletown High student and you know, not knowing her at all. Um, and being like the advisor of GSA, not having seen her at any like events and things like that. Um, you know, it's not that that's a a precursor or necessity by any means, but it's just it immediately signals some one one thing or red flag. And then when I read the application, I don't know if this was your feeling as well. It's like this this isn't a clear and further protect and uh you know promote LGBTQ rights issues, you know, advanced it, you know, like you said, we've had stronger applications in the past. Yeah, it's really unfortunate because I feel like you know, I really, you know, I sent emails to Mercy, Xavier Vinyl, Middletown High, um, reached out to um the um what's that? Oh, upward bound. Um so that they could let their students know as well. I mean, even though that it's it was just kind of a double whammy because they're in our schools, but you know, just an opportunity.
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