The Bobcat Pride Scholarship Fund is organized exclusively for charitable purposes, more specifically the BPSF Jeremy O. Torres Emergency Stabilization Fund provides monetary support to emerging adults (ages 18 to 25), who have minority sexual and gender identities (LGBTQIA+), residing in the Greater San Marcos area.
BPSF recognizes people of all minority sexual and gender identities experience systemic oppression. Therefore, BPSF aspires to empower future societal contributions by helping these individuals address unforeseen financial barriers.
This private fund was founded in 2010 by Texas State alumni and friends as they recognized the progress Texas State had made towards the inclusion of the LGBTQIA+ community yet the lack of resources to support LGBTQIA+ Bobcats. This inspired the group to establish a scholarship fund with two goals: 1) to offer an academic achievement scholarship and 2) to offer a leadership development scholarship to LGBTQIA+ Texas State students. Bobcat Pride Scholarship Fund® was the first ever, private scholarship dedicated exclusively to supporting LGBTQIA+ Bobcats.
The Emergency Stabilization Fund (ESF) was established in 2013 to support LGBTQIA+ Bobcats facing an unexpected financial crisis that could have disrupted their ability to continue in school. Our dear friend Jeremy O. Torres, a faculty member in the Department of Theatre, was part of the fabric of BPSF. When he passed in 2016 the leadership felt strongly that the ESF embodied the love and support Jeremy always offered others and in communication with his mother, Shirley Abernethy, it was agreed we would rename the fund in his honor. Read more about the Jeremy O. Torres Emergency Stabilization Fund (JOTESF).
In September 2018, BPSF's leadership donated all funds to ALLIANCE at Texas State for the first Texas State University scholarship for LGBTQIA+ Texas State Students. The decision to collaborate enabled the LGBTQIA+ Endowed Scholarship to reach the endowment level, guaranteeing scholarship opportunities for Bobcat students indefinitely!
In August of 2019, BPSF was transferred to new leadership in order to revitalize the Jeremy O. Torres Emergency Stabilization Fund. This Board of Directors expanded the mission to provide monetary support to emerging adults (between the ages of 18 to 25), who have minority sexual and gender identities (LGBTQIA+), residing in the greater San Marcos area. This allows the fund to support these individuals in a time of unforeseen crisis with one-time, limited financial support to secure their well-being and/or ability to stay enrolled in school.
Previous Scholarship Opportunities:
Achievements Since Our Inception: