SCOPE Grants for Community Service & Social Justice
The mission of the Wilson Center’s SCOPE grants is to provide opportunities for students at the University of Maine to explore their values, to act on their concerns and to build human connections through programs that are designed and led by students. The SCOPE grants are given in honor of Rev. Elizabeth Morris, chaplain of the Wilson Center from 1990-1993.
We offer SCOPE Grants every Spring Semester and provide support through the completion of awarded projects.
Proposed projects must be aimed at addressing a particular social justice issue and/or community need. Students should look critically at a social issue they would like to address. Potential issues include poverty, homelessness, hunger, domestic violence, barriers to school & job success, environmental degradation, access to quality medical care, gender discrimination, racism, LGBTQ+ issues, and prejudice and discrimination of all kinds. We have found that SCOPE projects work best when they come from the bottom up and work to empower local communities and thus we encourage students to consider partnering with an existing organization. Additionally, we welcome creativity in addressing a wide range of social issues. If you have a question about whether your idea fits into the category of a social justice initiative, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Wilson Center staff to run your idea by us!
Find more info about the application process here.
Housed in the Wilson Center Main Space, we keep an updated binder of past and present winners and projects. This can be a wonderful resource for folks interested in applying to our SCOPE Grant to see what kinds of projects have been done in the past.