Gary Sailes Graduate Diversity Scholarship

The application process and criteria for the scholarship are as follows:

  1. Applicants MUST BE enrolled as a Masters or Doctoral level student, and a current and financial NASSS member at the time of application submission.
  2. Applicants must prepare the following:
    • A one-page essay, which addresses your current research and how you plan to contribute to the field of sport sociology/physical activity. (Please use 12 pt., Times New Roman Font and single-spaced lines only)
    • A letter of recommendation from a faculty member  familiar with the student’s work and aspirations.
    • Applicant Contact Sheet with the following information: Name, Address, Phone & Email Address, Student Classification (Masters or Doctoral), College/University Affiliation, Name of Faculty Recommender.
  1. All required documents MUST BE sent via email as one complete PDF document in the following order 1) Applicant Contact Sheet, 2) Faculty member letter of recommendation, and 3) One-page essay.

Application Deadline and Information on where to send materials for 2025 Award Winners will be posted in Spring/Summer 2025

  • The NASSS Diversity and Conference Climate Committee will review all applications and select the winners.
  • Winners will be notified via email in September and be recognized at the 2025 NASSS Conference in Seattle, Washington.

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Previous Recipients
To download a PDF of all previous NASSS award winners, including all winners of this award, please click here: NASSS Awards

2024Master’s Award: Jessica Guibault (Queen’s University)
Doctoral Awards: Daniel Uy (University of  Toronto)
2023Master’s Award: Kaitlyn Seow (Queen’s University)
Doctoral Awards: Tori A. Justin (University of Maryland)
2022Master’s Award:  Shalom "SB" Brown (University of Toronto); Doctoral Awards: Marisa Gonzales (University of North Texas)
2021Master’s Award:  No Applicants; Doctoral Awards: Edgar Compos (University of Minnesota, Twin Cities) & Ashley Gardner (University of Tennessee, Knoxville)
2020Master’s Award:  Alleyne J. Francique, OBE (Katholieke Universiteit (KU) Leuven, Belgium); Doctoral Award: Brandon Wallace (University of Maryland)
2019Master’s Award:  Arturo Jaime Morales Jr.  (University of Tennessee, Knoxville); Doctoral Award: Ajhanai Channel Inez Newton (University of Connecticut)
2018Master’s Award:  Tori Thompson (University of Maryland); Doctoral Award: Nida Ahmad, (University of Waikato)
2017Master’s Award: Dervon Francis (Western Illinois University); Doctoral Award: Alexander Deeb, (University of Tennessee, Knoxville)
2016Master’s Award: Urooj Shahzadi(University of Toronto); Doctoral Award: Traci Canada(University of Virginia)
2015Master’s Award: Alexander Deeb (Western Illinois University); Doctoral Award: Bahar Tajrobehkar (University of Toronto)
2014Master’s Award: Caroline Piquette (Laurentian University); Doctoral Award: Ember Skye W. Kanelee (University of Massachusetts Amherst)
2013Master's Award: Bahar Tajrobehkar (York University); Doctoral Award: Satoko Itani (University of Toronto)
2012Chelsea Johnson (University of Southern California)
2011Albert Y. Bimper, Jr. (University of Texas)
2010Nikolas Dickerson (University of Iowa)
2009Jasmine Hamilton (Louisiana State University)
2008Kyoung-Yim Kim (University of Toronto)
2007Rachel Sarabia (University of California, Santa Barbara)
2006Nicola Potopsighn (Queen's University)
2005Bryan Bracey (University of Maryland)

Gary “Doc” Sailes is an award winning professor at Indiana University. He is widely recognized for his research and advocacy on collegiate sport access and Critical Race Theory. A champion of student-athlete development, Dr. Sailes has led Congressional hearings, and presented to the International Olympic Congress on abuses in college athletics and the value of diversity across sport. A recipient of the 2011 NASSS Distinguished Service Award, “Doc” continues his support of the NASSS community by bestowing resources that annually fund the Graduate Diversity Scholarship.

In acknowledgment of the recommendation made by the Racial Diversity Committee in the fall of 2003, the NASSS Conference Program Committee has implemented a scholarship for a graduate student who is a member of a racial or ethnic “minority” group. The purpose of the scholarship is to create a mechanism to identify racial and/or ethnic “minority” graduate students who are researching in the area of sport sociology and provide a means of supporting their work and association with NASSS. The award of $500 is applied toward expenses associated with attendance at the annual conference