Iowa State is among a few universities in the Midwest to offer scholarships specifically to members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

The Scott Rohlf Presidential Leadership Initiative Award was developed more than five years ago by Rohlf, an ISU alum. The award recognizes leadership and academic achievement within the LGBT community.

“The purpose is to complement successful academic experiences by partially supporting student leadership and involvement in the LGBT community at ISU,” said Johnny Rogers, graduate assistant in the LGBT Student Services office.

He said the scholarship was made to recognize and reward people in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community who are not just involved, but actually help start programs and promote a “positive identity.”

Requirements for the scholarship include being classified as a junior or senior, maintaining a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher and demonstrating leadership in the promotion of a positive identity for LGBT students throughout the ISU community.

Dean of Students Pete Englin said the university is trying to move in the direction of offering similar support to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.

“We’re pretty progressive in terms of having an office within the dean of students office,” he said. “The thing we’re lacking is a full-time director, which is what you’ll typically see in an East Coast or West Coast program.”

Englin said similar scholarship programs may be established in the future, such as a scholarship to complement the Matthew Shepard full-tuition award by matching full room and board costs.

“It’s really exciting to be able to offer it, and we hope to expand the scholarships that we can provide,” he said. “We’re most appreciative of Scott’s gift. It was actually established well ahead of its time.”

Rogers said the award speaks well of Iowa State.

“Certainly the fact that it’s been grouped with other Presidential Leadership Awards shows the university’s growing commitment to diversity,” he said. “While the Rohlf scholarship is great, there’s so much more that can be done to help LGBT scholars.”