Horse Nation Announces 1st Annual Diversity Scholarship [Update 7/2: Fund Now $5,000]
“A diverse equestrian community is a strong equestrian community.”
Update 7/2: Wow, the donations just keep coming. Thank you, Hannah Hawkins, for making another $1,000 available toward elevating minority voices and giving deserving riders a leg up! Read more here. As the Scholarship amount is now five times the original amount, we are in the process of reevaluating how the funds will be distributed to applicants.
Update 7/1: We are happy to share that five-star eventer Katherine Coleman has pledged to double the new amount of $2,000, bringing the total to $4,000! Read more here.
Update 6/30: We are happy to share that Stable View in Aiken, SC, has pledged to match NM’s original Diversity Scholarship award amount of $1,000, bringing the total to $2,000. Thanks to the generosity of Barry and Cyndy Olliff, we will now be able to award the 1st place winner $1,000 and two runners-up a sum of $500.
Update 6/27: We thank our readers for sharing feedback with us — we hear you! It is the mission of this Scholarship to call for, encourage, elevate and immediately give a platform to minority voices in a space where they are underrepresented. With the help of your input, we have made some changes. It’s not perfect and it’s certainly not enough money (like many businesses, Nation Media has taken a big hit in recent months). But we humbly submit this Scholarship as a small contribution toward real change, with much more work still to be done in the future.
Randy Ward and Grando. Photo by Jenni Autry.
“We as a horse community need to grow, to reach new audiences and to introduce another generation of riders to keep our sport going strong. A diverse equestrian community is a strong equestrian community, and it’s time to open the doors of opportunity to all.” — former Horse Nation editor Kristen Kovatch
The Nation Media family, comprised of websites Eventing Nation, Jumper Nation and Horse Nation, has been working hard to highlight the importance of racial equality, and we have been encouraged by the messages of inclusiveness that have reverberated throughout our equestrian community.
Today we are excited to announce Nation Media’s 1st Annual $1,000 Diversity Scholarship, with the funds to be divided as follows: 1st – $500, 2nd- $300, 3rd – $200.
All minority equestrians are invited to apply. The Scholarship may be used any in way that the recipient desires to further their riding career, be it educational opportunities, competition entry fees or equipment/tack.
Applicants are invited to submit, via essay or video, a contribution to the discussion of diversity and inclusion in equestrian sport. This is your space to use however you wish, and we are listening.
Please submit entries to [email protected]. The deadline for applications is Friday, July 10, 2020. There is no word minimum or maximum. After the Scholarship recipients have been announced, we will be honored to share entries on EN throughout the summer with permission.
Go Diversity. Go Riding!
