About the Scholarship
The Mark West Scholarship has been established to support WWU students who are engaging in scholarship related to disability studies and accessibility. The award is also open to those who are contributing to disability culture at Western in non-academic ways, such as through arts, activism or advocacy work. This award is made possible by the generous donation of Maureen West, WWU trustee and Disability Studies advocate.
Award distribution: Academic Year, beginning Fall
Award amount: $1,000
Number of awards: 1 – 2
Applications open: Sign up to learn when the next round opens financialaid.wwu.edu/scholarships
Application deadline: TBD
Letter of recommendation deadline: TBD
Contact: icds@wwu.edu
Evaluation Criteria:
Applicants are judged on three main criteria:
- Has the applicant demonstrated a high level of scholarly engagement with disability studies or disability- and access- related course work?
- Has the applicant demonstrated a high level of extra-curricular engagement with disability-related arts, activism, or advocacy, either at Western or elsewhere?
- Does the applicant demonstrate financial need for the award?
Scholarships at Western have now moved to a centralized application process! Learn more at financialaid.wwu.edu/scholarships
Mark West Scholarship Awardees
2025-26 Awardees
This year, we are pleased to announce two undergraduate awardees for the Mark West Scholarship.
Augden Hayes
Any pronouns
Augden is going into their fourth and final year at Western majoring in Public Health and minoring in Chemistry, Psychology, and Honors Interdisciplinary Studies. Originally from Portland, Oregon they have loved calling Bellingham home for the past three years. Augden has been an Education and Advocacy Co-Coordinator at the Disability Outreach Center (DOC) for almost three years, working to cultivate disabled communities on campus, plan disability focused events, and provide information and accessibility training to the broader Western community. Through their role at the DOC Augden has facilitated ‘Spoons and Knives,’ an affinity space for students with chronic pain, chronic illness, and chronic fatigue as well as creating the COVID Conversations video project in conjunction with a new ‘Mask4Mask’ affinity space for COVID conscious community members to connect. As a disabled student themselves, this scholarship is incredibly meaningful and Augden is excited to continue working with the DOC and the broader disability community at Western throughout the year.
Harley Stringham
xe/they
Harley is an undergrad student at Fairhaven College. Xe are majoring in Cripping Pleasure, an interdisciplinary concentration exploring Disability Justice, Pleasure Activism, and Crip Theory. After graduation they plan on working as a community sex educator before returning to college for a master’s degree in disability or sexuality studies. Harley identifies as crip, queer, and kinky, identities that are at the core of xer research and lifestyle. Xe are involved in local activism and mutual aid groups. In their free time, Harley works on training xer cat, Vetiver, reads queer and crip books, and engages in conversation about sex, BDSM, and disability. Harley’s main goal in life is to be a freak that fights for justice and liberation in all aspects of life.
2024-25 Awardees
This year, we are pleased to announce two awardees, one undergraduate and one graduate student.
Cori Foster
they/them
Read more about Cori…
Cori is a WWU Alumni, who received their BA in Recreation Management and Leadership with a Minor in History, and is a former Disability Outreach Center student employee. During Cori’s time at WWU, they have promoted ADEI, consulted offices on accessibility improvements, and run Disabled community and educational events. They are pursuing their MA in Rehabilitation Counseling, following their dream of working in social services, primarily serving Disabled and LGBTQIA+ individuals. Cori’s passion for working with Disabled individuals comes from their own experience as a Disabled person. They are familiar with the challenges of navigating an inaccessible world and hope to be a relatable Vocational Counselor. In their free time, Cori spends their time analyzing intersectional materials, gardening, crocheting, and spending time with their spouse and their ESA, Pickles.
Kim Miller
2023-24 Awardees
We are pleased to announce the awardees for the Mark West Scholarship! Two undergraduate students are receiving the award for the 2023-2024 academic year:
Jordan Van Haften
they/them
Read more about Jordan…
Jordan is a CSD major and honors student pursuing a minor in the new critical disability studies program. They come from Murrieta, California and have the intersectional identity of being autistic, genderqueer, aromantic, and asexual. Their future goals moving forward is to study audiology and use what they learn in critical disability courses to help to provide accommodations for disabled individuals along with bringing information on disabled history, culture, and issues to the medical sector- which is historically dominated by the medical model of disability. Beyond this, they want to work to help amplify voices of marginalized groups and inform the public of both past and prevalent social issues so that these problems can be acknowledged, understood, and work to be fixed.
Sebastian Mayotte
Read more about Sebastian…
I am a passionate student and proud advocate for social justice, and while originally from Michigan I decided to return to higher education in the PNW back in 2020. Since then, I have been pursuing a rather ambitious Triple-Major/Triple-Minor program meant to provide me with both multi- and interdisciplinary approaches to the various social & economic injustices that we continue to face today.
I am incredibly optimistic for our future and the good work that this next generation of activists will certainly bring. For my part in this mission, I have the long goal of taking what Western has taught me to Law School in order to specialize in human and civil rights law, and to fight for legal protections to the various communities who are far too often left unprotected, marginalized and oppressed.
I am a firm believer of a natural and overall goodness found in human beings, and that the work we invest today will be what decides if we can ever one day live together within a positive peace with equal security for one another regardless of our cognitive or physical makeups, ethnic or religious backgrounds, or identities of race, sexuality or gender. While It may seem utopian, the more time I spend at western immersed in my studies, actively engaged in campus clubs, and volunteering with the various grassroots community organization that proliferate Bellingham, the more certain I am that achieving this human destiny is only a matter of “when” and not “if” for ourselves.
2022-23 Awardees
We are pleased to announce the awardees for the Mark West Scholarship! We had a large number of deserving applicants, including many excellent applications from undergraduates and graduate students alike. We have chosen one undergraduate and one graduate to receive the award for the 2022-2023 academic year:
Phoenix Booth
they/them/theirs
Read more about Pheonix…
I have an intersectional identity that includes being crip, queer, non-binary, white and I am a first-generation college student from a disadvantaged socio-economic background. I hold a BFA in metalsmithing, a master’s in Critical Craft Studies, and am a master’s candidate in the history program at WWU. My research passion is the topic of therapeutic craft, and I am currently exploring it from a cultural history perspective. My inquiry considers how craft was used in American medical institutions from 1888 to 1917. I am placing my inquiry at the intersections of disability history, craft history, and occupational therapy/medical history to tease out associations and implications commonly overlooked. A deep understanding of the socially constructed nature of disability lies at the heart of my inquiry and will inform my analysis of primary source materials regarding historical therapeutic craft practices.
Hillary Banks
she/they
Read more about Hillary…
Hillary Banks is a Fairhaven major and WGSS minor. They have taken WGSS 450 on disability studies, helping her find her voice. They are a queer, non-binary and pan-sexual, disabled, multi-racial, and Black identifying student. Having done activist organizing in the past, they continue to fight for intersectional justice and liberation of minorities and the environment. Helping organize a local Bellingham chapter for Black Lives Matter, they are interested in furthering education and research into topics of disability and liberation to better inform future efforts.