History of WSU Matthew Shepard Scholarship

The Matthew Shepard Scholarship Committee was organized in the fall of 1998 by 18 concerned individuals from Weber State University, Ogden and Salt Lake City. The Weber State University Matthew Shepard Scholarship was the first scholarship in Matthew's name in the country. The committee created the scholarship because they were horrified by Matthew's tragic death and wanted to create a resource to serve other LGBTQ... students. The scholarship endowment fund has since been supported by several hundred donors. Donations have been received from across the country and around the world however, the majority of donations and donors are from Northern Utah. 

On November 2, 2002, Judy Shepard visited WSU to deliver the keynote address at the WSU Diversity Conference. In her keynote, and at the following reception  in her honor, she continued to stress her strong support for the scholarship at WSU and its importance in helping to stop hate crimes. 

"Our family would be most honored to have a scholarship fund in Matt's memory . . . such a generous offering."
                -Judy Shepard (mother of Matthew Shepard)

Please help us increase the awareness and acceptance of sexual minorities by contributing to this important scholarship fund.