The Weatherhead Scholars Program is an exclusive, four-year undergraduate merit scholarship established by a landmark pledge from the Weatherhead Foundation. Designed to advance community engagement impact nationally, the program fully resources high-achieving student leaders with the funding, autonomy, and training needed to transform classroom knowledge into concrete community action.
Key Program Commitments
Financial Award: A partial to full tuition scholarship of $30,000 to full annually, designed to cover tuition, fees, books, supplies, room, board, and personal expenses.
Service Requirement: Approximately 75 hours annually of public service.
Academic Standard: Maintain a minimum cumulative 3.5 GPA.
Mandatory Service Project: Hit annual benchmark deliverables for the Capstone Service Project for completion during your final undergraduate year.
First-Year Seminar: We offer a first-year seminar course tailored to service-minded students that satisfies the ½ of the public service degree requirement. You may enroll in TIDE-1984: Identity, Power, and Community Engagement during the freshman fall semester.
Beyond funding, Weatherhead Scholars have direct access to:
Direct Individual Mentorship: Receive personalized, one-on-one coaching and professional development guidance directly from the CPS Program Manager.
New Orleans Non-Profit Networks: Build strong relationships with local community leaders, mutual aid networks, and service-minded non-profit organizations across the Greater New Orleans area.
On-Campus Leadership: Seamlessly connect with student-led campus service organizations to collaborate, lead, and organize peer-to-peer initiatives.
Public Service Internships: Gain priority pipelines and pathways to high-impact public service internships locally and nationally.
Post-Graduate Fellowships: Establish early pathways to prestigious post-graduate fellowships focused on civic engagement, policy, advocacy, and community leadership.
Capstone Funding & Resources: Access to specialized, dedicated resources and training tailored for complex problem-solving and social innovation.
Sustained Project Autonomy: The independence to co-design, pitch, and execute a self-directed service initiative with a dedicated community partner over multiple years.
Advanced Civic Leadership: Intensive project-management training and milestone tracking designed to translate academic theory into a single, high-level, measurable contribution to community well-being.
Students apply for the Weatherhead Scholars Program concurrently with their admission to Tulane University, utilizing the same application process as the Community Service Fellows (CSF).
First Step: Complete your Common Application or Tulane Admission Application.
Scholarship Application: Submit the Tulane Scholarship Application via your Green Wave Portal to be considered for the Weatherhead Scholars cohort.
Deadlines: Align with standard Tulane Early Action/Early Decision and Regular Decision merit deadlines.
The Weatherhead Capstone Project
The signature achievement of a Weatherhead Scholar is the Capstone Service Project—a significant, multi-year undertaking co-designed and implemented alongside a dedicated community partner to address real-world challenges. To support Scholars through this complex problem-solving process, the Center for Public Service provides a robust, four-year developmental framework:
First Year: Explore & Engage
Scholars spend their first year laying a solid ethical and personal foundation. Through the freshman seminar (TIDE 1984), cohort dialogues, and individual mentorship, students explore their own social identities, build critical self-awareness, and begin exploring specific community issues they are passionate about solving.
Second Year: Developing Relationships
Sustainable impact is built on trust. In their second year, Scholars shift their focus outward, identifying local non-profits, mutual aid networks, and civic leaders. This year is dedicated to building deep, reciprocal relationships with potential community partners to understand real-world needs directly from community experts.
Third Year: Project Proposals & Designing Projects
With a strong partnership and defined community need established, third-year Scholars research, co-design, and draft their formal Capstone Project proposals. This phase translates academic theory into a concrete, measurable action plan, ensuring all logistics, budgets, and project benchmarks are set.
Fourth Year: Implementation & Reflection
In their final year, Scholars fully execute their co-designed Capstone Project in the community. This year culminates in a tangible, measurable contribution to community well-being, accompanied by intensive reflection to translate the experience into lifelong leadership skills.
Past & Current Projects Showcase
Past Projects
Glass Half-Full: Glass Recycling in Greater New Orleans
Community-Based Research Publications with the Cancer Research Center
City-Wide Conference for Black Student Organizers in New Orleans Universities
Connecting with Southeast Pro-Bono
Current (In Progress)
Boundless Voices: Creating Books, Building Confidence
Project Hope: Supporting Homeless and At-Risk Children
Community Justice Fair
STEM Engagement for the Muslim Youth in New Orleans
Tulane Environmental Justice Initiative (T.E.J.I)
Voices of Heritage
Pencils with Passion
Promoting Hispanic-Based Non-Profit Organizations & Businesses
Plastic Waste Pollution Reduction Initiative
Youth Education on Water Conservation
