Gary Sailes Graduate Diversity Scholarship

About the Award

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.

Gary Sailes Graduate Diversity Scholarship Award 2025

Application Deadline: Sunday, July 27, 2025

One Master's Student & Doctoral Student

We are excited to announce that applications are now open for the Gary Sailes Graduate Diversity Scholarship Award. The purpose of the scholarship is to identify racialized graduate students who are doing research in the sociology of sport and to provide a means of supporting their work and association with NASSS. The award is $500, which will be applied toward expenses associated with attendance at the 2025 NASSS Conference in Seattle or Vancouver.

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

  1. Applicants must be enrolled as a master’s or doctoral-level student and a current NASSS member in good standing (dues are paid) at the time of application submission.
  2. Applicants must prepare and submit one complete PDF document in the following order: 1) Applicant Contact Sheet, 2) Faculty member letter of recommendation, and 3) One-page essay. Please see below for further details:
  • Applicant Contact Sheet must include the following information: Name, Address, Phone & Email Address, Student Classification (Master's or Doctoral), College/University Affiliation, and the Name of Faculty Recommender.
  • A letter of recommendation from a faculty member familiar with the student’s work and aspirations.
  • One-page essay (single-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font) addressing the following:
    • A description of your current research and how you plan to contribute to the field of sociology of sport and/or physical activity.
    • A discussion of your previous research, personal, or practical experiences that are relevant to your academic work and goals.
    • A reflection on your background as a racialized graduate student and how your personal experiences shape and inform your research and future contributions to the field.

(Please ensure the essay is concise, well-organized, and clearly connects your personal and academic experiences to your current and future scholarly goals and work.)

  1. The NASSS Diversity and Conference Climate Committee will review all applications and select the winners.
  2. Winners will be notified via email in September. Both Master’s and Doctoral winners will have an opportunity to present their research during a special session: the “Gary Sailes Graduate Diversity Scholarship Awardee Presentation,” at the 2025 NASSS Conference in Seattle or, Vancouver, or Online.

Submit one complete PDF document by July 27, 2025, with the title of the email “Gary Sailes Graduate Diversity Scholarship Award Application” to:

Umer Hussain

umer[email protected]

umer[email protected]

DCCC Members

  • Demetrius Pearson
  • Janelle Joseph
  • Williams A. Lamont
  • Lucy Guan
  • Eileen Narcotta-Welp
  • Jesse Couture
  • Keisha Branch
  • Umer Hussain (DCCC Chair)

 

Previous Recipients

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)