Ethical Leadership Scholarships and Application

The Richard Richards Institute for Ethics awards scholarships and stipends to high school seniors and WSU students in the community each year. Students can apply for multiple scholarships listed below.

Application Instructions

• High School Senior Ethics Scholarships

  To be considered for selection as an Ethics Scholar, please submit the online application and the required documentation listed below:

  Winners will be honored and formally announced at the Ethics Scholarship Banquet at Weber State University. Scholarship winners and their parents will be informed before the banquet, and are strongly encouraged to attend. 

  First, gather the following information. If these items are not attached to your application, you may not be eligible for a scholarship.

  • High school transcript including current GPA and ACT scores (unofficial copy, such as a scanned PDF is acceptable).
  • Verification of high school graduation date by high school administrator, if you are a high school senior applying (e.g., brief letter from guidance counselor).
  • Letter of Recommendation (this can be from a faculty member, community member, school administrator, etc.)
  • A 500-word ethics essay, double spaced, titled and dated including your name and that of your high school. Please write on ONE of the following topics:
     

  1. Maria is a local reporter who hosts a weekly television show that addresses issues of national interest. For an upcoming show, she wishes to focus on global climate change and the internationally agreed-upon goal of trying to keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. Though a vast majority of climate scientists agree that the world is warming rapidly because of human activities, one physics professor at the local university denies this. As he thinks that there is good evidence to support his position, he insists that Maria include him on her show to present a balanced consideration of the issue. Otherwise, he argues, Maria would be showing media bias in choosing which side of the issue she thinks is true. What is Maria ethically obligated to do?

  
  2. It has been estimated that there are 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States, representing 3% of the total population and nearly 24% of all immigrants. President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on the pledge “to launch the largest deportation effort in American history, focusing on criminals but aiming to send millions back to their home countries.”1 Supporters of this idea argue that undocumented immigrants take jobs from those who are here legally; that they are a drain on social services, like education; that their presence here is unfair to those who have entered legally; and that they bring crime and drugs into the country. Those who argue against the policy point out that it would cost nearly $1 trillion over 10 years to implement; that it would tear apart many families; that it would devastate certain industries, like construction and agriculture, that rely on the labor of undocumented immigrants; and that many of the those sent back to their home countries would be returned to conditions of crime and violence that they were simply trying to escape in the first place. From a strictly ethical standpoint, would implementing this proposal be justified?

  1 https://www.reuters.com/world/us/how-trump-would-crack-down-immigration-second-term-2023-11-14/

  
  3. The Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that there are currently over 600,000 homeless people in the United States. Despite the challenges of finding adequate housing for these people, several states and municipalities around the country have banned them from camping in urban areas. Critics of these laws argue that they effectively make homelessness a crime and that people are being punished for being in a situation over which they have little to no control. Advocates of the laws, however, say that not only do the bans make urban areas safer and cleaner, but that they also help protect homeless people, since criminals frequently target those sleeping on the streets. Ultimately, do you think these bans are ethical?

   

  
  Submit an application

• Internship, Community Service and Study Abroad Stipends

  To be considered for selection as a Richards Scholar, review the requirements below and submit your essay.

  The Richards Scholar stipend is named after Richard “Dick” Richards who was a successful attorney in Ogden; was actively involved in politics and was appointed by President Ronald Reagan as the National Chairman of the Republican Party. Thereafter was an international consultant on the world stage.

  Richard Richards was first and foremost an efficient, effective, and ethical leader—

  serving locally, nationally and globally. He demonstrated successful leadership in law, politics and international business; working with companies, countries and for the common good in a wide variety of industries.

  He believed that “leadership is not about a title or position; it is a way of being.” He believed that effective, ethical leaders seek new ideas, new perspectives, different worldviews and see the value of belonging as a way to exponentially change the status quo.

  And most importantly, he believed that “everyone of us can be a leader, every one of us must be a leader.” He would be inviting you to become a leader, a leader that stands for something, that makes a difference, that maximizes the possibilities. He would challenge you to be an ethical leader in your profession, be a leader in your home and family, be a leader in your communities.

  You might ask, are leaders born or are they made? Leaders are neither born nor made, leaders choose to be leaders.”

  To apply for a $1,000 stipend, write in 500 words or less why you have chosen to be a leader and how you will apply ethical leadership in your internship, community service or study abroad  experience: with your fellow students, the community and people you will associate with and serve. And how you feel this experience can impact your life choices to lead in the future, in your career and community?

  Submit an application

• WSU Student Ethics Certificate Stipends

  To be eligible for the WSU Student Ethics Certificate Stipend, please do the following and submit an application:

  • Complete the requirements for the certificate (18 credited hours)
  • Select an artifact from your certificate program and write a 250 word or less abstract about that artifact.
  • Solicit a letter of recommendation from a faculty member of the certificate program and submit as part of the application process
  • Submit GPA transcript

  
  Submit an application