The Luther Lee Scholars (LLS) program is a full-tuition scholarship cohort for students who exhibit and want to grow in intercultural leadership.
Luther Lee Scholars from Indiana Wesleyan University
Pillars
The LLS experience offers students a robust academic and co-curricular experience to develop students as scholar-leaders in the pillars of the LLS.
Luther Lee Experience
The LLS experience exists as a partnership between the John Wesley Honors College and the Office of Intercultural Engagement.
The co-curricular and academic experience integrates:
- Christian liberal learning and leadership development with training in cultural responsiveness, and service
- Exploration of cultural, racial, social, and ethnic identities with development as leaders
- Learning in community with engagement in the Kingdom of God
Honors College Membership
LLS fulfill general ed. requirements by pursuing a special honors humanities core curriculum that engages life's big questions through deep discussion and interdisciplinary study.
Pre-College Immersion Experience
LLS freshmen arrive one week early and spend the time immersed in community, opportunities for holistic development, preparation for college and the study of diversity, equity and justice.
Community
The LLS community is made up of students, faculty and staff eager to make a difference, share their experiences, and engage in meaningful dialogue.
Support
LLS receive wrap-around holistic support from dedicated staff, mentors and faculty. This includes access to academic resources, social, spiritual, cognitive, and cultural supports.
Award
LLS students receive a full-tuition scholarship;
- Applied after federal, state, and institutional sources of aid have been awarded
- Renewable for four years
Eligibility
LLS is open to students who meet one of the following criteria* and a U.S. Citizen or eligible non-citizen defined by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA):
Academic Requirements
Meet one of the following:
- Rank in the top 10 percent of graduating class or
- GPA of 3.7 or higher (on a 4.0 scale)
Academic Waiver
We are looking for students who are passionate about the work of diversity, equity and justice. Students who do not meet one of the following requirements but are interested in applying should write a letter of petition and communicate: academic preparation, intellectual character, vocational objectives and reasons for interest. Send by email to josh.rojas@indwes.edu or by mail to:
INDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
Intercultural and Global Office
c/o Josh Rojas
4201 S. Washington St.
Marion, IN 46953
Application Process
- Complete the LLS Application (follow link below) by February 11
- Apply to Indiana Wesleyan by February 11
- Complete the FAFSA by February 11
- RSVP to the Luther Lee Scholars and John Wesley Honors College Interview Day
Plan to attend a Luther Lee Scholars and John Wesley Honors College Interview Day on January 28 or February 25 (preference will be given to interviewees who attend on January 28) if invited to interview.
Who is Luther Lee?
Luther Lee was an abolitionist minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church who left that denomination in the 1840s for its refusal to take a firm stand against slavery. From this dispute over slavery, Lee and other abolitionists eventually helped bring into existence a new denomination - the Wesleyan Church. The Wesleyans of the nineteenth century sought to reform society by pursuing social holiness.
For Luther Lee and the early Wesleyans, social holiness meant not only condemning racial slavery in the United States, but also supporting women’s rights. In fact, the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848--the first conference on women’s rights in the United States--took place in a Wesleyan Church. And when Antionette Brown became the first woman ordained by a denomination to preach in America, the Wesleyan Luther Lee gave the sermon at her ordination service.
The pursuit of social holiness also informed the way early Wesleyans treated the poor. At a time when many churches reserved the best seats in their sanctuaries to those who could pay, the Wesleyans opened all their pews to anyone who came through their doors. Meanwhile, Luther Lee and the other early Wesleyans also rejected the adornment of riches, choosing instead to live and dress simply so as not to ostracize the poor with displays of wealth.
John Wesley once said that there is no holiness but social holiness and these early founders of the Wesleyan church—men and women like Luther Lee—took this idea to heart and tried as best they could to live it out. We are pleased to name this scholarship in honor of Luther Lee and are eager to help equip Luther Lee Scholars to carry forward the work of Christ-centered justice and reconciliation around issues of race, class, and gender that their namesake started more than a century ago.
* definitions:
First-generations student: Neither parent has attended or completed college
Student of color: Includes students from racial and ethnic minorities in the US
Low-Income: Defined as Pell eligible
