Cyrena Pondrom Leadership Grant

Description: The Cyrena Pondrom Leadership Grant supports students as they plan, develop, and implement projects designed to improve UW-Madison, the community, and/or the university student body. Past award recipients have established mentoring programs; collaborated with local organizations to improve community access to fresh, healthy and local produce; and founded an academic journal, the Madison Journal of Literary Criticism, to increase students’ opportunities to see their work published.

The Award(s): Pondrom Leadership Grant recipients receive scholarship funds equal to two semesters of resident, full-time tuition, plus project funds up to $3,000 as justified in the proposed project budget.

Eligibility Criteria:

  • Must be a declared student in the L&S Honors Program pursuing Honors in the Liberal Arts, Honors in the Major, or the Comprehensive Honors track
  • Must have completed at least one academic year at UW-Madison
  • Must have at least one academic year remaining at UW-Madison
  • Must have a minimum 3.3 cumulative GPA at the time of application

Selection Criteria

  • Evidence of achievement and leadership in co-curricular or public/community service activity(ies)
  • Strength, rigor, clarity, and novelty of the project proposal
  • Clearly defined and justifiable project budget proposal
  • Strength of letters of recommendation (faculty/staff advisor and campus/community partner advisor)
  • Progress toward the completion of the L&S Honors in the Liberal Arts, Honors in the Major, OR Comprehensive Honors degree(s)

Restrictions

  • Students may only receive this grant once.

Deadline
All materials must be submitted by Sunday, April 12, 2026, at 11:59 PM.

Note: Students may submit their project proposals in PDF form to Pete Keys (pkeys@wisc.edu) by Sunday, March 29, 2026, at 11:59 PM to receive feedback prior to final submission.

Award
Varies
Organizations
L&S Honors Program
Deadline
04/12/2026
Supplemental Questions
  1. Complete this question to request a letter of support from your UW faculty/staff project advisor for the Cyrena Pondrom Leadership Grant.

    To request a letter from your advisor, click on "Add a New Reference" below, enter their name and UW-Madison email address, and save. The WiSH system will send an email to your advisor with a link to upload their letter. You are responsible for ensuring your advisor completes this reference request by the deadline.
  2. Please select the Honors track you are currently pursuing.
  3. Please select the semester you expect to graduate from UW-Madison.
  4. If you answered "Other" to the question above, please clarify.
  5. Please enter the proposed title of your project.
  6. Please enter your UW faculty/staff advisor's first and last name.
  7. Enter your faculty/staff advisor's department.
  8. Enter your faculty/staff advisor's email address.
  9. Please list the name or title of your partner campus/community organization.
  10. Please enter your primary campus/community advisor's first and last name.
  11. Please enter your primary campus/community advisor's email address.
  12. (LSH) Please upload a letter of support (.pdf) from your campus/community partner advisor. You are responsible for obtaining and uploading a .pdf version of the letter of recommendation by the due date of the application.

    Please encourage your advisor to include the following in their letter:

    *Applicant Potential: Please describe how long and in what capacity you have known/worked with the applicant. Please also note any examples of leadership demonstrated in your shared spaces.

    *Endorsement of the Project: Please share your understanding of the student's proposed project. Please also share how you believe the project may benefit the intended community or audience.

    *Advisor Support: Finally, please share specific ways in which you believe you will be involved (mentoring, providing resources, troubleshooting challenges, etc.).
  13. Please upload any additional letter(s) of support that may be relevant to your project (excluding the two primary letters of support). If you have multiple, please combine the letters into a single .pdf and upload that .pdf. If you are unable to combine .pdf files, please send your .pdf letters as attachments in a single email to Pete Keys (pkeys@wisc.edu).
  14. Please upload a .pdf version of your completed project proposal. Please be sure to review the project proposal requirements prior to uploading your proposal.
  15. Please upload either a .xlsx or a .pdf version of your completed budget. Please be sure to review our tips for creating a budget prior to uploading your file.
  16. Please upload a .pdf version of your personal statement (no more than 400 words). We encourage you to consider the following in your statement:

    *Notable experiences:detail your previous experience(s) with leadership and/or service projects

    *The Potential Impact of the Project: describe how completing this project will impact you personally, academically, and/or professionally.
  17. Upload a current transcript (official or unofficial is acceptable).
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