Equal Opportunity & Access

Each year applications are accepted for the Martin Dupuis/Mukti Fund Leadership Award in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Communities. The $1,400 award recognizes a student who has provided leadership either for a GLBT group and/or in regards to GLBT issues at Western Illinois University and who will be a returning undergraduate the next academic year.

To be considered for this award, students must complete an application, write a short essay and provide a resume and two letters of reference. The recipient of the award will be selected by the University Committee on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (UCOSOGIE).

In 2004, the Mukti Board of Trustees of the Mukti Fund, a private grant-making foundation, voted to establish the Martin Dupuis Leadership Award in recognition of Dupuis' service to the fund and to acknowledge the value WIU played in his professional life. The WIU Foundation received a gift of $70,000 to establish the annual award.

In 1983, Dupuis, a recent Albion (MI) College graduate, and Albion professor Michael Dively co-founded the Mukti Fund, which has been dedicated to expanding individual awareness and improving quality of life through community projects. They chose the name "mukti," which comes from Sanskrit, because it means liberation, said Dupuis, who has served as a trustee of the fund since its incorporation.

Dupuis served as an associate professor of political science, pre-law Honors adviser and associate director of Western's Centennial Honors College from 1997 until 2006, when he accepted a position as assistant dean at the Burnett Honors College at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

2025-2026 Application

The selection of the Dupuis/Mukti Fund Leadership Award in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Communities shall be made by the University Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity/Expression (UCOSOGIE). The award of approximately $2,000 will be distributed by check in two installments, half in September 2025 and half in February 2026. The deadline for paper submissions is Friday, February 28, 2025, and the deadline for electronic submissions is Saturday, March 1, 2025.

Download the 2025-26 Martin Dupuis scholarship application (pdf) 

Contact Dr. Craig Tollini with questions.
Email: CD-Tollini@wiu.edu
Office: Morgan Hall 417A
Phone: (309) 298-1056