Jay Family Humanities Scholarship Award

Greg Jay (Porter, ‘74) and his wife Martha met at Porter (then College Five) and were married in the Pogonip in 1979. Martha is now an eye surgeon and Greg recently retired as a professor of Literature from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, where he worked very closely with Humanities Dean Jasmine Alinder whilst they were both faculty there. 

Greg’s brother Paul is also an alumnus (Porter ‘75, Literature;  Ph.D. ‘81) who took time off after high school and went to community college, so Paul and Greg were at UCSC at the same time. Paul went to UC Berkeley for his masters and returned to UCSC for his PhD. Paul is also a Literature professor at Loyola University Chicago. Paul knew and studied with Hayden White as a graduate student, and is married to Lynn Woodbury (Ph.D. '83, Literature). 

Through this gift the Jay family intends to offer financial support to an undergraduate student with financial need who demonstrates a strong interest in the study of the humanities and an academic focus on social justice and diversity.

Award Criteria for students:

  • Displays a strong interest in the study of the humanities with academic focus on social justice and diversity
  • Registered student in good standing during the Spring 2024 quarter
  • Declared Humanities Division major

Application requirements:

  • Completed application submitted via this Google form
  • 1 page/ 500 word statement describing how the award would help you overcome obstacles to engaging fully in studies, or to completing an academic or creative project related to social justice and diversity (statement submitted in Google Form application)

Applications for the 2023-2024 academic year are due March 6, 2024.