Support Students

Our students truly need your financial support. The financial aid needs for students have increased 200% over the past ten years, which means simply pursuing a degree is costly. And for students who’ve had to rely upon loans to fund their education, the pressure to pay back these weighty loans after graduation can make it virtually impossible to pursue the career for which they are trained. Your contributions to Scholarship Funds in the School of Drama can transform lives, giving our students a fighting chance in this difficult profession to achieve their professional goals.

Give to Student Support Funds

Ways to Give

Descriptions of Funds:

• School of Drama Scholarship
  In 1962, when Greg Falls was chair of the School of Drama he felt it necessary to establish a School of Drama Scholarship. This scholarship is typically given to undergraduate students, but can be given to graduate students as well. Full-time undergraduate majors may apply in early Spring for School of Drama Scholarship awards. Annual awards are given to multiple recipients determined by a faculty committee on the basis of demonstrated merit and talent and contribution to the life of the school.
• The John Ashby Conway Memorial Scholarship
  John Conway taught design at the School of Drama for 40 years and retired in 1975. He was the original designer of the Penthouse Theater. Upon his death in 1987, the scholarship was set in his name and overseen by his widow, Dorothy. The scholarship is given to an undergraduate student in design/technical.
• The Jack Clay Endowed Fellowship
  Professor Emeritus, Jack Clay, has generously established this fellowship to provide much needed financial assistance to MFA acting students. A distinguished member of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre, Professor Clay headed our nationally-ranked Professional Actors Training Program from 1986-1991. Prior to his time at UW, Professor Clay led the PATP at Southern Methodist University for twenty years, bringing that program to national prominence. In his student years, Jack trained with such luminaries as Martha Graham, Lee Strasberg, Jacques Lecog, Arthur Lessac, Kristen Linklater and Marjorie Barstow. Mastering technique, style and substance, Jack’s instruction emphasizes the use of body, voice, psyche and emotional life to tap into the spirituality of performance.
• Donal Harrington Memorial Scholarship
  Donal (“Dan”) F. Harrington joined the School of Drama faculty as a directing professor in 1938. A beloved teacher and director, he served the school nearly 30 years, retiring in 1967. He spent one year as the School’s Executive Director. Harrington is remembered as remarkable for keeping in touch with all of his students after they graduated. An avid traveler, he could summer almost anywhere in the world and count on spending time with former students turned friends. The Donal Harrington Memorial Scholarship will be awarded annually to an undergraduate student majoring in Drama.
• William Hill Endowed Scholarship
  Established by alumnus Ron Simons, PATP '01, in honor of his grandfather, this endowment supports continued strong recruitment efforts to diversify our student body. A William Hill Scholarship is awarded each year to an African-American student entering the School of Drama's graduate acting program.
• Glenn Hughes Memorial Scholarship
  In honor of Founding School of Drama Director Glenn Hughes, this Scholarship was established at the time of his passing in 1964. It is an endowed program that provides up to one year of undergraduate tuition. This scholarship is given only to a BA drama student selected by the Arena Group. The Arena Group members are undergraduate School of Drama alumni who preserve the early memories and activities of the School of Drama. They oversee and coordinate this Scholarship program.
• The Robert B. Loper Memorial Scholarship
  Robert Loper joined the School’s faculty as a master acting teacher in 1968. As head of the School’s Directing Program from 1986 to 1990, Loper inspired and guided numerous students. This scholarship will provide a graduate student with a fully supported internship at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where Robert Loper worked many years as a company member.
• W. Duncan Ross Memorial Scholarship
  Duncan Ross was the first Head of the PATP and a beloved professor. Mr. Ross came to the School of Drama in 1964 with an impressive list of achievements. In 1979, he resigned his administrative duties as head of the PATP when he became full-time Artistic Director at the Seattle Repertory Theatre, which he led for a decade. Mr. Ross passed away in 1987. This annual scholarship is given to a PATP student and selected by the Head of the PATP.
• Shelley & Phil Schermer Endowment Scholorship
  Phil and Shelley (Henze) Shermer both graduated from the University of Washington’s School of Drama. Phil’s MA in Scenery, Lighting Design and Technical Direction and Shelley’s BA in Drama led them both to work in the professional theatre community of Seattle. Shelley was hired by A Contemporary Theatre (ACT) and the Seattle Rep as a scenic artist and prop master while expanding her repertoire to include scene design, interactive museum exhibits and scenic arts for film and television. Phil was hired at the University after graduation as the School of Drama’s Theatre Production Supervisor where he oversaw the School’s scenery shop, student workers, and technical staff. Years later Phil worked as the Technical Director of ACT and eventually became the Producing Director. Along with Shelley, Greg and Jean Falls, and Mac Perkins, Phil founded PNTA, one of the nation’s most successful theatre supply companies. After Phil’s untimely death in 1997, Shelley has continued as a valued member of the Seattle theatre arts community and has developed this scholarship to provide financial assistance to undergraduate and graduate students who are studying in the technical and theatre design programs.
• The Meri Wada Award
  Meri Wada is an amazing woman and costumer who dedicated her 46-year career to the UW School of Drama. Upon her 1997 retirement, a fund was established for an annual award to be given to an undergraduate costuming student.