“Better get it in gear before you run out of road.”
—Traditional George Beardsley advice to contemporaries and to the young.
In the Spring semester of 2014, the Center of the American West offered its first two Beardsley Family Scholarships of $1000 each to undergraduates at CU Boulder. (The amount has since been changed to $1,000 – $4,000 per scholarship depending on available funds.) This is a merit-based scholarship – financial need is not a factor.
Requirements:
- Eligible students must be full time (enrolled for a minimum of 12 credit hours) with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0
- MUST also be enrolled in the Center’s Western American Studies certificate program.
- Must write a thank you note to the Beardsley family and also give a report to the Center about the opportunities that the scholarship afforded them.
The application deadline for the Spring 2023 semester is March 15, 2023
To apply, log into the Buff Portal, go to the "Finances" tab, and look for the "Scholarship" system link. Search the word “Beardsley.” If you have any trouble finding it, please contact us at academics@centerwest.org
The Story Behind the Scholarship
George Beardsley became a Board member of the Center of the American West in 2008. In his time on the Board, he consistently reminded us all to take every opportunity to recruit young people into our circles. Following his coaching, we created two new Board positions for recent CU graduates. In the months before his death in 2011, in several phone conversations, George continued to speak, intensely and inspirationally, to Patty Limerick about the importance of doing everything possible to find and engage deserving students who could benefit from the Center. All of us at the Center try to steer by George Beardsley’s exhortations to us.
