Brian Gialketsis SERQueer Scholarship

Brian Gialketsis holding a sign reading "Queers 4 Climate Justice."

About the Scholarship

In April 2020, the TGIF Committee voted to establish a $5,000 recurring scholarship in honor of Brian for his contributions to environmental sustainability at UC Berkeley. The SERQueer Scholarship was renewed and increased to $10,000 in May 2023 through 2026. The name SERQueer comes from the group that Brian and other SERC alumni created in 2018, a group they described as “a community space for queer students working on environmental sustainability & justice."  $2,000 scholarships will be awarded to five students selected by the SERQueer Scholarship Review Committee.

Scholarship Goals

  • Honor the life of Brian Gialketsis and his commitment to building radically inclusive social and environmental justice spaces on the Berkeley campus 

  • Financially support queer-identifying students working in and passionate about the environmental field at UC Berkeley

  • Re-envision what a community scholarship can look like by eliminating barriers to entry and focusing on healing, joy, and growth rather than traumas