The College of Wooster has conferred its third annual scholarship honoring student efforts to create a more welcoming campus for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people to senior Estancia Cota '11.

The recognition came on Sunday, October 10, as part of homecoming weekend at the northeast Ohio campus. College president Grant Cornwell, who has championed diversity during his first three years leading the liberal‐arts college, joined the ceremony. The weekend also marked the kickoff of the college’s LGBT alumni association, called Going True.

An anthropology major and history minor, Cota has demonstrated leadership in a variety of forums. She is president of Proyecto Latino, the student Latina/o organization, and holds the elected position of Secretary of Cultural Affairs and Diversity for the Student Government Association. She is also a student assistant at the Center for Diversity and Global Engagement on campus.

“A lot of what I'm working on now springs from Wooster,” Cota, a native of Los Angeles, said in a release. “Experiences here, both positive and negative, have shaped my studies and what I hope to do in the world. I love this school and will really miss being here.”

An emphasis on independent study has long underpinned the college’s curriculum. Cota is completing research on the services available to students of color and the changing spectrum of ethnic identities Wooster students invoke. For information about LGBT studies at the college, go to: www.wooster.edu/Academics/Areas‐of‐Study/Womens‐Gender‐Sexuality‐Studies

The John Plummer Memorial Scholarship for Promoting a Welcoming Campus for LGBT People celebrates the life and career of the late John Plummer, a 1964 graduate of the college who went on to work for nearly 40 years in its financial office. He was a mentor and adviser to LGBT students and involved in the local community coalition advocating respect and civil rights. The scholarship is open to all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, and is conferred each year on our around National Coming Out Day (October 11). The scholarship began in 2008 and recognizes one continuing student (a sophomore, junior, or senior) who has made a significant contribution toward creating a more welcoming campus environment for LGBT people.