A little over two years ago, a group of MFA alumni, current students, faculty and administrators sat down to create a scholarship that would recognize and support writers of merit from historically underrepresented and marginalized communities. It would also be a scholarship that would broaden access to higher education for those who might otherwise find it difficult or impossible to pursue graduate study, a scholarship that would be a transformative moment in their path toward creating their art, a scholarship that opened a door and relieved pressure at the same time. In short, we wanted the amount of scholarship money offered to really matter.  

We embarked on an ambitious fundraising effort in hopes of raising $50,000 in five years, so that we could begin to offer this new scholarship -- it had a name now, the Visible Voices Scholarship -- by the fall of 2025. That seemed reasonable, considering we were in the middle of a pandemic when we launched this plan. 

We were gloriously wrong. We underestimated the profound kindness, empathy, goodwill, and spirit of our students, alums, and our community partners.

We raised over $50,000 by the Spring of 2022, which meant it was time to move the calendar up...by three years.  

We should have known. If there is one thing that is absolutely true about the community that has risen from this MFA program since its founding in 2008, it is this: We show up for each other. 

So it is with immense pride and excitement that we are now able to announce that Jackelin Shoji, an MFA candidate in nonfiction, has been awarded our inaugural Visible Voices Scholarship. This scholarship will cover Jackie's full tuition & residency costs for an entire quarter of study. Along with all the candidates for the scholarship, Jackie had to tell us her story, had to take us by the hand and walk us down her road, with all the ruts and divots in place. Here, in Jackie's own words, we began to understand just what this scholarship might mean: 

There is a popular phrase in Spanish that describes how many Hispanic first-generation Americans feel. "Ni de aqui, Ni de alla." Not from here, not from there. We live between worlds, never feeling like enough of anything to belong. I have felt that way all my life.

Much thanks to the panel of alumni, faculty, and administrators who judged the award this term: Yennie Cheung, Jay Deratany, Professor Alex Espinoza, Professor Tod Goldberg, Nathania Oh, and Associate Director Agam Patel.  If you would like to give to the Visible Voices Scholarship, or any of our student awards, more information is available here.