Student Scholarship Opportunities

JESSE L. RUSHING was born in Blytheville, Arkansas on January 9, 1953 to Jesse and Latonia Rushing and lived his very early years in Missouri. His family and he moved to Central California and were farmworkers during the early years of his life. His parents, wanting to improve themselves, both went to school to become certified to work in the state hospitals as psych techs and raised their children in Porterville. Jesse was the eldest and only son of four children. He loved playing drums in the school band as well as playing basketball and baseball. He was a very good pitcher and was scouted by the pros during his high school career. He went onto USC on a baseball scholarship but soon found his interest in sociology and religioncourses. After dropping out of USC, he worked a variety of jobs, married Marjorie Coots, and went to work as an eligibility case worker for Tulare Co. Dept. of Social Services. He decided to return to school to earn a degree in social work to advance in the field. After entering Fresno State, he decided his real interest was in sociology, especially criminology and religion. He finished his BA and was thrilled to be accepted to the graduate program at University of Washington where he worked as a research assistant with Dr. Joe Weiss, Dr. Rodney Stark, & Dr. Daniel Doyle with whom he published, posthumously, the research paper “Beyond Durkheim: Religion & Suicide” in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (1983, 22(2):120-131). During finals week of his first semester of graduate school, Jesse suffered a brain aneurysm and, after surgery and being in a coma for several days, died on December 17, 1979 at the age of 26. Dr. Joel Best, chair of the sociology department of Fresno State (1978-88), was instrumental in establishing the Jesse L. Rushing Scholarship Award, funded by donations from sociology faculty.  Nearly every year, a cash award is presented to an outstanding sociology student who is aspiring towards a doctoral program. 

The following graduating seniors were selected by the Sociology Department as the Outstanding Sociology Graduates. Students must have a major / double major in Sociology and a minimum overall GPA of 3.5. 

Originally named the "Jean Miles Grant" Scholarship in 2005, this scholarship was renamed the Jean Miles and Clifford O. Grant Scholarship in 2014.  It is presented to a sociology major who will be returning for the fall semester and who has demonstrated outstanding progress towards the degree, including a minimum 3.5 GPA in the major and a minimum 3.0 GPA overall.

The Harvey Milk Award, a $2,000 scholarship, is presented annually to an outstanding scholar completing the Humanics Certificate at Fresno State through The Bulldog Pride Fund which was established in 2006 as an endowment under the auspices of the Fresno State Alumni Association. 

The Humanics Exemplar Award is presented annually to an outstanding graduate and alumnus/alumna who has completed the Humanics Certificate and/or Minor Degree in Philanthropic & Community-based Leadership at Fresno State.