As a memorial to Kipp Seelhorst, a Religious Studies student who we, sadly, lost in 2012, Kipp's family and friends established a fund through the Foundation for IUP to promote two initiatives over the next four years:
- The annual Kipp Seelhorst Memorial Lecture, offered in cooperation with the Committee for the Study of Culture and Religion. This annual lecture will feature a scholar and/or practitioner of earth-based spirituality and was inaugurated last year with Andrew Steed, Celtic bard and storyteller.
- A scholarship to a Religious Studies major or minor for study abroad, to be awarded annually. Download the application form here.
The department is grateful for the generosity that the Seelhorsts have shown to IUP students whose academic and personal development will be enhanced by these programs. The lectures and scholarship are consonant with the dedication to religious understanding and the spirit of adventure that was so much a part of Kipp's character.
Kipp Seelhorst Memorial Lecture: "Native Spiritual Landscapes" - November 2013
Kipp Seelhorst Lecture: "Vodou, Justice, and the Crossroads of Life and Death" - November, 2016