Roosevelt University - Women's and Gender Studies

Grace Mary Stern Scholarship
Women's and Gender Studies

Grace Mary Stern started her career in politics in 1970 as the first woman to be elected Lake County Clerk. She built up her impressive constituency with the catchy slogan, “Not one of the boys,” and by publicly blasting government injustices in a local paper column called “With a Stern Eye.” Stern took positions for gun control and abortion rights, restructuring of public school funding, and a graduated income tax plan. These positions, although not popular ones in her high-income district, proved her to be an independent thinker who followed her heart and conscience rather than the pocketbook.

Stern was elected to the state legislature in 1984, becoming part of the nine percent of county government’s elected seats filled by women nationwide. Throughout her career, she was dedicated to increasing women’s representation in politics and public life and, in a 1985 Chicago Tribune letter, stated, “Women will not be adequately represented in party councils until we rise to claim that representation.” Her dedication led to a bill known as the Gender Balance Act, passed in 1991, which requires an equal number of men and women or, at least, “significant representation of both sexes” on state-appointed boards, commissions, committees, and councils. The legacy of Grace Mary Stern lives on in future generations of feminists at Roosevelt with a scholarship for Women’s and Gender Studies students who, like Stern, want to affect the structure of our society and challenge the injustices of our government.

General Information and Instructions

The Grace Mary Stern Scholarship is awarded annually to a graduate student or undergraduate minor in Women's and Gender Studies at Roosevelt University. It is a merit-based award that provides for a range of support for tuition expenses. Undergraduate prerequisites, English Language Program, or other courses that do not count towards the master's degree or undergraduate minor in WGS cannot be covered by this scholarship.

The recipient is selected on the basis of academic excellence and commitment to the ideals represented by Grace Mary Stern. The selection committee will choose the scholarship recipient on the basis of the student's potential to develop an intellectual and personal vision with the distinguished example of Grace Mary Stern as a guide.

Applicants must have met admission requirements for their program as a regular degree-seeking student. To be eligible to apply, an admission grade point average of at least 3.0 (normally from the undergraduate degree) is required from new students. Continuing graduate students must have completed at least nine semester hours at Roosevelt University with a grade point average of at least 3.0.

Application priority deadline is March 1st for the following academic year.

For more information, please contact the Office of Admission. You can download an application here.