Your gift supports an annual award to a student with academic merit and financial need who has an interest in the Arabic language, the Arabic-speaking or Muslim world, peace and conflict resolution, or Palestinian human rights.
Undergraduate scholarships help make pursuing a four-year degree possible for many students, including those who embark on field study to support their research and education. Students across our degree programs greatly benefit from learning another language, traveling, and engaging in humanitarian work.
This fund was established to honor the memory of Richard M. “Rick” Hooper, who died at age 40 in the August 19, 2003, terrorist bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad. Rick was a 1985 graduate of UC Santa Cruz who spent many years in the Middle East and became one of the UN’s chief experts on the region. He became interested in the Middle East as an undergraduate while studying abroad. When he returned, he joined a campus student organization, the Palestine Support Group, dedicated to promoting awareness of the culture, aspirations, and human rights of Palestinians.