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Scholarship application & goals

The purpose of the George Choy Memorial / Gay Asian Pacific Alliance (GAPA) Scholarship is to provide financial assistance to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (l/g/b/t) Asian and Pacific Islanders (API) who are in the process of applying to, or are currently attending, a post-secondary institution. The maximum grant award is currently $1000.

Who was George Choy?

George Choy was an ardent activist who spoke out for queer APIs, driven by the belief that we are all "part of the family too." He was especially vocal in support of queer youth in our community, successfully representing GAPA to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to pass Project 10, the counseling program for lesbian and gay teenagers in public high schools. In keeping with the vision of George Choy, this scholarship embraces lesbians, transgenders and other sexual minorities.

Who can apply?

You can apply for this scholarship if you:

  • are self-identified as an Asian/Pacific Islander; (at least 25% API ancestry); priority will be given to those self-identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, or involved in the l/g/b/t community;

  • are in the process of applying to, or are currently attending school in one of the nine-Bay Area counties; (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Napa, Sonoma, and Solano)

  • have a grade point average (GPA) of 2.75 or better

Application deadline: September 15, 2009

Please click one of the links below to download a file containing the guidelines and application form for the George Choy Memorial / GAPA Scholarship Fund. For additional information, please visit the Horizons Foundation website.

For DETAILED GUIDELINES, please read the application form. For more information contact our gapa scholarship coordinator, Felix Tsai at felix@gapa.org.

2009 Application Form PDF (272k download)

2009 Application Form MS-WORD (218k download)
(right-click --> Save-As, locally to your computer)

2008 scholarship recipients:

Thanks to the generous donations of Ed Tang and an anonymous GAPA member, we were able to award three scholarships this year. The Scholarship Committee are proud to award Vanessa Coe, Kevin Hamano, and Karl Cabrera as 2008 GAPA Scholarship winners. All three winners were given their awards at the GAPA banquet and all follow the tradition of community activism that George Choy exemplified. Thanks to everyone who has supported the GAPA Scholarship fund that makes these awards possible. Now to the winners . . . .

Vanessa Coe is an Ethnic Studies major at U.C. Berkeley, active in the LGBT community and communities of color. She helped organize the Queer Culture Show and will be the next Executive Director of Bridges, the multicultural resource center at Berkeley. In high school, she served on the board of the California state-wide Gay-Straight alliance. Vanessa is interested in pursuing sustainable activism, where we can engage in social activism yet still have time to heal and grow. She likes playing basketball, surfing, dancing to 80s music, eating damn good food, baking, cracking jokes with her mom, playing around with her dog, and acting out spontaneously with friends.

Kevin Hamano is a Political Science major at U.C. Berkeley. Kevin served as the chair and a founder of the Queer Culture Show at Berkeley. He was admitted to the National Residence Hall Honorary and is a Chang-Lin Tien Scholar. After graduating from Berkeley, Kevin would like to continue working with the LGBT and Asian American communities. He is also considering pursuing an MBA. Kevin enjoys photography, theater, learning languages, meeting new people, and just chilling will friends. Kevin would like to thank GAPA and those who made both this event and scholarship possible.

Karl Cabrera is studying game art and design at the Art Institute of California. He is active in Frameline and is the vice president of True Colors, the LGBT club at the Art Institute. At the Art Institute, he has made both the President’s List and Dean’s List for academic achievement. He hopes to work as a 3D animator in the videogame industry. He enjoys immersing himself in art--learning, watching, hearing, performing, and making art always leaves him doe-eyed and lifted. Carl is honored and thankful to get this award. He feels it’s a great start for him to become not only more visible, but more active as well in the community.