40 Hours for the Forty Acres 2020

Who We Are

The Psychology Department at the University of Texas Austin is a highly ranked scientific powerhouse. We study everything from the single neuron to broad cultural and societal contributions to behavior—and the full range in between. The Psychology Department brings together outstanding faculty, staff, graduate, and undergraduate students to support our scientific and educational missions. Your generosity will foster the diversity of our community and increase our excellence even further.

What We’re Fundraising For

The University of Texas has recently announced a number of large resourced initiatives to increase the diversity of the undergraduate student body. Psychology is one of the largest undergraduate majors and in order to best guide undergraduates from diverse backgrounds it is essential that they have the opportunity to learn from, and be mentored by a diverse group of scholars. Therefore, the department is launching a new initiative to raise money for a Psychology Diversity Scholars Fund.

The fund will serve the broad purpose of increasing the diversity of the graduate students, post-docs and faculty who serve as primary mentors to our undergraduate scholars. As the fund grows, we will expand support for research focused on psychology within diverse populations. It is critical that psychological science encompass research questions that reflect the priorities and needs of diverse segments of our community. The Psychology Diversity Scholars Fund can contribute to that important mission. The 40 for Forty campaign will set the foundation and increase support for a diverse undergraduate student population in their pursuit of psychological science. While the goals for the Diversity Scholars Fund are ambitious – you are ambitious!

Your Impact

The impact that donors will have on the department’s education and scientific missions will be significant and impactful on the lives of our undergraduate students.

One of our graduate students, Guadalupe Gonzalez who was supported by a University Thematic Fellowship stated – “I’m a first-generation college student. Even though obtaining a Ph.D. is extremely challenging, I try to remind myself that researching topics that I’m passionate about is a privilege that others don’t have. Importantly, I think this may help other students from underrepresented groups know that it’s possible for them to get a Ph.D. in psychology or any other field they choose.”

One of our undergraduate honors students, Grace Dennis, who is a McNair Scholar and a Rapoport Service Scholar, stated—"I'm a first-generation college student from an under-resourced community in Central Texas. I aspire to earn a Ph.D. in counseling psychology. Earning a Ph.D. seemed unrealistic until I came to UT and discovered mentors from backgrounds like mine who encouraged me to raise my educational and career goals."

We need your help to recruit and educate more students like Grace and Guadalupe to build the excellence and relevance of Psychological Science. The Psychology Diversity Scholars Fund would provide real resources to support them and encourage them to be critical role models and mentors to the rapidly changing population of undergraduates.