{"id":1547,"date":"2026-07-22T10:31:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T14:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/fpep\/?page_id=1547"},"modified":"2026-07-22T10:41:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T14:41:08","slug":"scholarship-whatley","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/fpep\/scholarship-whatley\/","title":{"rendered":"The Honorable\u00a0Cortez\u00a0J. Whatley&#8217; 13 Safe Haven Scholarship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"lead\">As a first-generation college student, Cortez earned his bachelor&#8217;s degree from UCF and served as the 43rd Student Body President and a member of the UCF Board of Trustees. As an attorney and community leader, Cortez is passionate about uplifting others and understands the difficulties some students face in trying to achieve an education amid challenging circumstances. This <strong>$1,000 scholarship<\/strong> is named in honor of his son, Haven, and he hopes it will help alleviate the financial burden of those students impacted by the criminal justice system and\/or have experienced housing insecurity. The scholarship is awarded in the spring semester and dispersed in the following academic year.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"heading-underline mt-5\">Selection Criteria<\/h2>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Applicant must be enrolled as a full-time undergraduate student at UCF<\/li>\n<li>Applicant needs to have at least one more year at UCF<\/li>\n<li>Applicant must be a first-generation in college student<\/li>\n<li>Minimum 2.5 overall GPA<\/li>\n<li>This scholarship is intended for students who are system-impacted (including those having a parent, sibling, or close family member affected by incarceration or court system involvement) and\/or have experiences of housing insecurity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>This scholarship is non-renewable and will only be awarded once per student<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"heading-underline mt-4\">Deadline<\/h2>\n<p class=\"font-size-lg\">April 1 at 11:59 p.m.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"heading-underline mt-4\">More Info<\/h2>\n<p><em>Awards and scholarships are considered a resource and must be included as a part of a student\u2019s financial aid\u00a0<strong>cost of attendance<\/strong>. If a scholarship exceeds your financial\u00a0<strong>cost of attendance<\/strong>, a reduction to your financial aid may occur.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>If you have questions or concerns, contact Keri Watson (407-823-2676 or <a href=\"mailto:keri.watson@ucf.edu\">keri.watson@ucf.edu<\/a>)<\/p>\n<div class=\"bg-primary-lightest px-4 py-5 mt-5\">\n<h2 class=\"font-condensed h1 mb-4\">Apply<\/h2>\n<p>Submissions are currently closed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As a first-generation college student, Cortez earned his bachelor&#8217;s degree from UCF and served as the 43rd Student Body President and a member of the UCF Board of Trustees. 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