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Office of Inclusion and Multicultural Engagement

Scholarships & Services

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The Office of Inclusion and Multicultural Engagement works with The University of Southern Mississippi to provide guidelines to help you navigate your scholastic experience and fund your academic career.

Kennard Scholars Program Scholarship

The purpose of this fund is to award scholarships to first generation students with demonstrated need who maintain a 2.75 GPA and demonstrate leadership potential through campus involvement.

Kennard Service Scholarship

The Kennard Service Scholarship was created to award scholarships to underrepresented students, particularly students of color. These student scholarships are awarded to students based on the service to the institution through community engagement, student organization leadership, and work in diversity, inclusion, and equity.  

Golden Pride Annual Scholarship

The purpose of this fund is to provide a scholarship to a current student with a minimum 2.50 GPA. The student must submit an essay that describes a specific way he or she helped the LGBTQ community recently. The scholarship is not based on financial need.

Johnson-Lockheart Scholarship Endowment

The purpose of this fund is to honor the parents of USM Alumni Jeffery Wayne Johnson and Peggy Wolfe Johnson. The recipient must be a first-generation college student who is a graduate of Collins High School in Collins, Mississippi, with preference given to a USM junior or senior with an overall 2.5 GPA or better and/or financial need. When possible the award should alternate by year between a student from the College of Business and Economic Development and a student in a science or technology major. Further consideration, when possible, should be given to a student from the Shady Oak or Friendship communities within Collins. If all preferences cannot be met in a given year, the core requirements are a first-generation college student who graduated from Collins High School of Collins, Mississippi.

Click here to apply

Center for Black Studies

Southern Miss was desegregated in 1965 when Raylawni Branch and Gwendolyn Elaine Armstrong became the first African American students enrolled at the University. More than fifty years of progress is evident in the wide-ranging programming, research, teaching, and service activities organized and supported by the Center for Black Studies.

The mission of the Center is two-fold:

  • To promote research and provide educational opportunities related to the history and culture of African Americans and the Black Diaspora;
  • Facilitate connections between the University and the various social, political, and economic entities that address Black experiences.

Center for American Indian Research Studies (CAIRS)

The Center for American Indian Research and Studies (CAIRS) facilitates partnerships between the faculty of Southern Miss and regional tribal governments in order to better serve the needs of the American Indian people in our area.

Women’s and Gender Studies

At Southern Miss, the Women's and Gender Studies (WGS) Program offers both an undergraduate and a graduate minor. In addition to courses specific to the program, we offer classes in a variety of academic areas, from sociology to literature, nursing to human performance, theatre and dance to speech communication, history, and political science. Specific courses are listed under the appropriate program.

Women's and Gender Studies courses are for all students—men, women, genderqueer, cisgender, straight, and LGBTQIA—who are interested in gaining new insight into women, gender, and sexuality issues.

International Student and Scholar Services

International Student and Scholar Services strives to be a leader in providing for the needs of non-immigrant students and scholars while promoting a culture of inclusivity, diversity, and mutual support at The University of Southern Mississippi, the state of Mississippi, the nation, and the world.