P.S. A correction: we have just *$4,000* to go to meet the scholarship
fundraising goal! We really are so close -- thank you in advance for
considering supporting the fund or sharing the donation call.

Scholarship website: https://fundutischoolbipoc.wordpress.com/
Donation portal: https://www.texasexes.org/iSchoolScholarship

On Wed, Mar 30, 2022 at 12:07 PM Alison Clemens <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> Dear C4L colleagues,
>
> I'm writing with a request for your consideration in contributing to the
> University of Texas iSchool Alumni Scholarship for BIPOC Students.
>
> We have just $8,000 to go! We've raised $45,850 of $50,000 funds to create
> an endowed UT iSchool scholarship to help more BIPOC scholars enter the
> profession, and if we raise the remaining funds by the end of this month
> (just a couple days away!), we'll be able to begin awarding the scholarship
> to students in fall 2023.
>
> Donations between now and the end of March will be matched, up to $3,500
> total! We're getting so close and are very hopeful we can begin providing
> financial support to students next year!
>
> *Please consider helping us meet our goal and being part of the
> scholarship's success*! You can visit the scholarship's website (
> https://fundutischoolbipoc.wordpress.com/) or its donation portal (
> https://www.texasexes.org/iSchoolScholarship). A full press release about
> the scholarship is below.
>
> With gratitude,
> Alison Clemens, for the UT iSchool BIPOC Scholarship Team
>
> *UT iSchool alumni step up to create an endowed scholarship for BIPOC
> students*
>
> Graduates of the University of Texas at Austin School of Information have
> started a grassroots fundraising campaign to create an endowed scholarship
> to help more BIPOC scholars enter the profession
>
> The grassroots fundraising campaign was formed in response to a 2020
> petition by UT iSchool students
> <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ucP6DehuxRRJTaAu73lWku2EFFooQ2QQxNo_QL3g8SE/edit?usp=sharing>.
> The petition stated “BIPOC students, who face additional obstacles to
> academic success and personal well-being, should have pathways for
> education at the iSchool through accessible and available funding,” among
> other demands for antiracist action. The call prompted UT iSchool alumni
> Alison Clemens and Michelle Keba Knecht to organize planning for an endowed
> scholarship to support BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color)
> students.
>
> The “iSchool Alumni Scholarship for BIPOC Students” will be administered
> by Texas Exes, the UT Austin alumni association, and supporters can donate
> through www.texasexes.org/iSchoolScholarship. Meeting the initial goal of
> $50,000 will create a recurring yearly scholarship of $2,000. Fundraising
> began in October 2021 and raised $8000 in the first month.
>
> *The scholarship is a concrete step towards the University of Texas’s, and
> the School of Information’s, goals of greater diversity, equity, and
> inclusion. It is the only scholarship specifically for UT iSchool students
> of color, who are underrepresented both in the information profession and
> the iSchool -- Emma Hetrick, MSIS expected 2022*
>
>
> BIPOC communities are under-represented in the information professions. In
> 2017, surveys of both the American Library Association
> <http://www.ala.org/tools/research/initiatives/membershipsurveys> and the Society
> of American Archivists
> <https://www2.archivists.org/aboutarchives/resources/factsandfigures/wars-saa-salary-survey> reported
> that the library and archives fields are roughly 87% white, while the U.S.
> population <https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219> is
> currently 76% white. Significantly, fewer than 5% of individuals in both
> professions reported identifying as Black or African American, compared to
> 13% of the country as a whole. Results from an informal 2020 survey of
> iSchool students by the petitioners showed that “89.3% of respondents want
> action to be taken to increase scholarship and funding opportunities for
> BIPOC students and to hire more BIPOC faculty and staff.”
>
> The UT iSchool BIPOC Scholarship Team began meeting in December 2020. The
> team is led by Michelle Keba Knecht and Alison Clemens in collaboration
> with Lauren Algee, Hannah Calkins, Martha Horan, Kathi Isham, Dana Sagona,
> Elliot Williams, Rachel E. Winston, student representative Emma Hetrick,
> and faculty representative Dr. Loriene Roy.
>
> *Press contact*: Alison Clemens, [log in to unmask], 203-432-9029
> *Website*: https://fundutischoolbipoc.wordpress.com/
> *Related press*: “School of Information creates scholarship for BIPOC
> students <https://thedailytexan.com/2021/10/14/dt-10-15-21/#3>,” Daily
> Texan, October 15, 2021
>