In January, Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) announced the first-of-its-kind Social Justice Scholars Program.
The program kicks off in the fall of 2021. It will award three full-tuition scholarships to graduate students and elevate their SP2 experience with a focus on racial justice, anti-colonialism, and abolitionist futures. A preference will be given to graduates of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and other minority-serving institutions.
“Ultimately, our scholars will become the leaders in social work, social policy, and nonprofit that our world indisputably needs at this moment, and for many years to come,” said Dean Sara S. Bachman, Ph.D.
SP2 Board Member Allison Weiss Brady, C’93, is supporting the new program with an initial gift. “I am so encouraged that the Social Justice Scholars Program is coming to fruition and bringing much-needed opportunities to SP2’s talented, passionate, and diverse social change agents,” says Brady, who also serves as Chair of the School’s The Power of Penn Campaign committee and on the Penn Football Board. “To fully achieve its vision, SP2 needs to make Penn accessible to more individuals who are fighting racial injustice, and the ability to remove the financial barrier.”
The inaugural cohort of scholarship recipients will begin classes in the fall. Gianni Morsell, who plans to graduate this spring from Morgan State University, will be among that first group of accepted scholars. “The Social Justice Scholars program will allow me to engage in a vigorous learning environment at Penn that will challenge me as a leader,” said Morsell. “I plan to focus on developing and enhancing my leadership skills and working in the nonprofit sector.”
Long-term, an endowed fund would enable the program to expand its pool of up to 12 recipients to participate in the future. As the program expands, so too will the ripple effect to create lasting change within the curriculum and culture of SP2.
SP2 has a long history of the passionate pursuit of social innovation, impact, and justice. SP2 graduates go on to have a profound impact on their own communities where they live and work.
