Walter P. Riley Radical Change Scholarship

Scholarship funds will be awarded in the 2026-2027 academic year. Students graduating in spring and summer 2026 are not eligible.

  • Awarding Department: Liberal & Creative Arts
  • Scholarship Intent: To provide scholarships to undergraduate students in any major in the College of Liberal & Creative Arts who are committed to pursuing radical social change through community activism. Graduate students are not eligible to apply to this scholarship.
  • Criteria:
    1.Students must have a commitment to advocating for youth empowerment, envisioning an equitable society, organizing for system changes that improve the lives of many, and challenging the limitations that have kept equity from being reality.
    2.Students who demonstrate that they are class conscious and anti-racist, have a world outlook, and commit to fighting exploitation, gender politics and oppression, and not engaging in work or causes that displace or marginalize people.
  • Major: All Majors within the College of Liberal & Creative Arts
  • *Class Level: Undergraduate: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior & Senior; Graduate: Masters/MFA
  • Enrollment Status: Continuing and entering students can apply
  • Enrollment Requirement: Undergraduate: 1 or more units – Graduate: 1 or more units
  • Financial Need as determined by the FAFSA and/or CA Dream App: No
  • Citizenship: Any
  • Minimum GPA: No minimum GPA required
  • Reference letter: Must provide 1 reference letter
  • Contact Person: Arsham Pourfallah
  • Email: lcastudentservices@sfsu.edu
  • Amount of Award: Varies
  • Number of Awards: Varies

Donor
In Honor of Walter P. Riley
Award
$1000
Scopes
College of Liberal & Creative Arts
Deadline
04/06/2026
Supplemental Questions
  1. Describe ways you have worked, or are currently working, to promote meaningful social change through community involvement, advocacy, or organizing. Your response may include experiences related to supporting young people, advancing fairness and inclusion, or addressing structural barriers that affect communities. Share specific examples that illustrate your role, the goals of your efforts, and the impact your actions have had or seek to have. Reflect on what motivates this work and how it connects to your academic or personal path.
  2. Discuss the values and perspectives that guide your approach to social justice and community engagement. In your response, reflect on how your understanding of inequality, power, and responsibility shapes the choices you make in your academic, professional, or community-based activities. You may draw on personal experiences, learning, or advocacy to explain how you strive to act in ways that are thoughtful, inclusive, and attentive to the effects your work may have on others, particularly those who are historically marginalized.
  3. Please upload your SFSU unofficial transcript in PDF form here. If you are an entering student, upload an unofficial transcript from the institution you attended most recently.