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

Applying to the Scholarship

Our Fall 2024 SERQueer scholarship will be one round this year. One Google Form Application is due November 1, 2024 at 11:59 PM PST. You can view the essay prompts below. The  Brian Gialketsis SERQueer Scholarship Review Committee will review all applications and recipients will be notified in late November. Please refer to the timeline below to stay up-to-date. 

  • Applications Open: Monday, September 30, 2024

  • Applications Close: Friday,  November 1, 2024

  • Winners Finalized by: Late November

  • Scholarships Processed by: Late December

Eligibility

  • Registered UC Berkeley student (both undergraduate and graduate)

  • Queer Identifying

  • Passionate about Environmentalism (this does not have to be your field of study)

  • Any student who meets these criteria is welcome to apply.  This includes undocumented, formerly incarcerated, and reentry students, among others.

Prompts

The SERQueer Review Committee would like to reiterate that we HIGHLY ENCOURAGE the applicant to only share what they are comfortable with for the application review. In the spirit of this program, we ask that applicants utilize the questions as an opportunity to express their own experiences with joy and hope. 

Please feel free to copy/paste previous works into the essay questions (if material is relevant to the question). 

Please limit your responses to 2,500 characters (~500 words) per question. 

Question 1

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley. In February 2018, Brian Gialketsis wrote a testimony to the Free Speech Commission in response to a series of protests around “Free Speech Week” and the subsequent campus response in Fall 2017.

In his testimony, he writes: “We should be questioning our laws on a larger scale of morality and justice than what is ‘currently legal,’ and we should push our community to be better than what the laws and contemporary discourse allow.” 

In this current moment, what reflections do Brian’s words prompt for you?

Question 2

Tell us about your environmental journey! How does your queerness play a role in envisioning what a queer and/or environmentally just world look like for you?

Question 3

This past July marks Brian's 5 year angelversary of his passing, and this coming April would have been his 30th birthday.

If you could throw a party celebrating all of your identities, how would it look/who would be there? What does celebration mean to you?

Scholarship Application - Google Form

FAQ

collapse all expand all

Can we use old pieces of work to answer prompts, such as an essay I wrote for another scholarship or class?

Yes! Previous work used for other scholarships, other classes, or anywhere else will be accepted.

Can I still apply if I am not majoring in an environmental field?

Yes! We encourage anyone who is passionate about environmentalism to apply. We recommend checking out SERC if you’re interested in the eco-community at UC Berkeley :)

If I do not feel comfortable sharing about my identity, can I still apply?

Yes! These questions are not meant to make you feel uncomfortable; we do not want you to share anything you do not want to share. You are not required or expected to lay out traumas, unless you feel it is important and you want to share those experiences. Please answer the questions in a way that makes you most comfortable and happiest. We want you to have fun with this! The questions are meant to be broad so applicants can have the freedom to interpret and answer as they choose.

Who sits on the Scholarship Review Committee?

The Scholarship Review Committee is composed of friends, family and colleagues of Brian, and other representatives who are queer identifying and/or familiar with environmental issues and initiatives.

How will the scholarship be administered?

The TGIF Team will be working with the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office to award the scholarship. The scholarship will be awarded in conjunction with your financial aid package. Please contact us if you have any questions!

Are you offering other scholarships at this time?

For Fall 2023, SERC and TGIF will be offering two sister scholarships: (1) the Brian Gialketsis SERQueer Scholarship, and (2) the Environmentalists of Color Scholarship. You can apply to both, as well as re-use language across submissions.

Who can I contact if I have any questions?

You can either email tgif_grants@berkeley.edu or Carli Baker, carli.baker@berkeley.edu with any and all questions.