SUNY to offer scholarship honoring LGBTQ+ pioneer Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk, who served as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, was born in Woodmere and graduated from Bay Shore High School. Credit: Bettmann Archive
State University of New York Chancellor John B. King Jr. on Sunday announced a new scholarship in honor of LGBTQ+ pioneer Harvey Milk, a Long Island native and SUNY graduate who is recognized as one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States.
The scholarship will be awarded to a full-time SUNY upperclassman student who demonstrates a commitment to improving LGBTQ+ inclusiveness on their campus for fellow students, SUNY officials said. The honor was announced on the last day of Pride Month.
“Across the SUNY system, countless students who have and will continue to follow in the footsteps of Harvey Milk and other pioneers to ensure LGBTQIA+ rights are not eroded,” King said in a statement.
Milk, who was born in Woodmere and graduated from Bay Shore High School, received his bachelor's degree in 1951 from the Albany State College for Teachers, known today as the University at Albany.
He was elected to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors in 1977, after running as an openly gay candidate. He was shot and killed the following year.
Milk’s nephew Stuart Milk runs the Harvey Milk Foundation, a nonprofit whose mission is to empower the LGBTQIA+ community.
Stuart Milk said in a statement that the SUNY scholarship comes from his uncle’s alma mater “adds a great deal of significance to the historic and global legacy of Harvey Milk.”
“The SUNY Harvey Milk scholarship will serve to support students as a living testament to Uncle Harvey's enduring impact and will serve to be a source of inspiration for all for those who continue to embrace diversity, champion human rights, and honor the memory of a trailblazer who gave his life in the line of justice and freedom,” Milk said.
The application is expected to open in the fall. Students in their sophomore, junior or senior years of college can apply. To be eligible for the scholarship, students must also be nominated, be in good academic standing, write an essay and receive a letter of recommendation.