MinerAlert
About: The Hawkins Scholarship, established by UTEP President Dr. Heather Wilson, provides two $10,000 scholarships to two UTEP juniors of outstanding intellect and character who are committed to the service of others. This award seeks to recognize students who show promise of becoming leaders capable of addressing important challenges facing humanity and may be awarded to a student in any field. Each $10,000 scholarship may be used to pay for tuition, fees, room, board, books, or other educational expenses. Other educational expenses may include the cost of special academic experiences abroad or away from campus and other expenses to prepare for the student’s graduate education.
Selection Process: The Hawkins Scholarship selection process is modeled after that of the nationally competitive and highly prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. This process is designed to prepare students to apply for nationally competitive awards by offering them experience with proposal writing and high-stakes interviews. From the initial pool of applicants, a committee of distinguished alumni and community leaders will select 10 Finalists. These Finalists will then engage in extensive preparation for a reception and interviews with the committee to select the two recipients.
The selection criteria are as follows:
Junior cellular & molecular biochemistry major Valeria Lopez (left) and junior electrical engineering major Arian Perez Ramos have earned the Hawkins Scholarship – Learn more here!
The 2024-25 Hawkins Scholarship application will become available in August of 2024 and will be due by October 3, 2024 at 11:59 PM MST.
To meet the minimum qualifications for this award, one must:
Important to know:
The Hawkins Scholarship is named for First Lieutenant William Deane Hawkins. A resident of El Paso and an excellent student, Hawkins graduated from El Paso High School when he was 16 and was awarded a scholarship to attend The University of Texas at El Paso (formerly known as the Texas College of Mines) where he studied engineering. After Pearl Harbor was attacked, Hawkins joined the Marine Corps. In November 1943, Lieutenant Hawkins selflessly led his men into action against Japanese-held Tarawa located in the Gilbert Islands. Sadly, he was killed in action during this effort. He risked his life to accomplish the mission inspiring his comrades during the most crucial phase of the battle. Lieutenant Hawkins was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic acts above and beyond the call of duty.