University News
Applications Open for 2025-26 Dupuis/Mukti Fund Leadership Award
February 6, 2025
MACOMB/MOLINE, IL - - Applications are now being accepted for the Western Illinois University Martin Dupuis/Mukti Fund Leadership Award in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Communities for the 2025-26 academic year. The award, now valued at approximately $2,000, recognizes a student who has provided leadership either for a GLBT group or for GLBT issues.
Applicants who meet the leadership criteria must be undergraduate students returning to WIU for the 2025-2026 academic year. To be considered, students must complete an application, write a short essay and provide at least one letter of reference. The recipient will be selected by the University Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (UCOSOGIE).
In 2004, the Mukti Board of Trustees of the Mukti Fund, a private grant-making foundation, voted to establish the Martin Dupuis Leadership Award in recognition of Dupuis' service to the fund and to acknowledge the value WIU played in his professional life. The WIU Foundation received a gift of $70,000 to establish the annual award.
In 1983, Dupuis, a recent Albion (MI) College graduate, and Albion professor Michael Dively co-founded the Mukti Fund, which has been dedicated to expanding individual awareness and improving quality of life through community projects. Dupuis, who has served as a trustee of the fund since its incorporation, said they chose the name "mukti," which comes from Sanskrit, because it means liberation.
Dupuis served as associate professor of Political Science, Pre-Law Honors adviser and associate director of Western's Centennial Honors College from 1997 until 2006, when he accepted a position as assistant dean at the Burnett Honors College at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
Alexis Vernon, a past recipient of the scholarship, reflected on its impact on her academic and professional journey.
"As a student at WIU, I received the Martin Dupuis/Mukti Scholarship in order to help fund my social work degree. It provided crucial financial help to springboard me into my career. With the financial help I received, I was able to get my bachelor's degree in Social Work and graduate in 2019. Since then, I have gone on to have a career as a therapist and help positively impact the lives of many. I truly appreciate the opportunities that the Martin Dupuis/Mukti Scholarship has given me," Vernon said.
Applications are due Friday, Feb. 28 for paper submissions and Saturday, March 1 for electronic submissions. The award will be distributed by check in two installments, half in September 2025 and half in February 2026.
Applications are available online at go.wiu.edu/41264xL. For questions, contact Craig Tollini, UCOSOGIE chair, at CD-Tollini@wiu.edu.
Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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