According to the Juniata College website, "Roughly 10 percent of the United States population is left-handed." This lack of left handed dominance can be traced to antiquity. Juniata College points out the history of the word for left. For example, left in Latin, "sinistra," brought us the word sinister in English. In French, the word for left, "gauche," shares the meaning awkward.
While being a lefty, or southpaw in boxing terms, is given a bad connotation in language, it is an interesting positive factor in athletics. More NHL players shoot left than right. Many star baseball players including Babe Ruth have been left handed.
Left handed people, while technically qualifying as a minority, are poorly represented in the scholarship arena. While hundreds of race-based minority scholarships exist, only one scholarship awards money based on a student's dominant hand. The meager $1,000 award requires attendance at one particular college: Juniata.
Juniata College, in Huntingdon, PA, offers multiple $1,000 scholarships for its left handed students. The Mary Francis Beckley Scholarship is named after two left handed students from 1919. Mary Francis and Frederick Beckley were paired together as the only two southpaws on the tennis team. The scholarship was established with a $24,000 bequest from the late Mary Francis Beckley.
While being left handed is not the only requirement, only southpaws students need apply. Financial need and top academic performance are also ranked. In addition, only sophomores, juniors, and seniors are eligible.
Juniata offers a wide variety of degree areas. Majors include sciences such as biology, chemistry and physics. Sociology and anthropology majors are available as are many in world languages and cultures. The college rounds out its offerings with math majors, English majors, education fields, environmental studies and more.
For left handed students seeking a scholarship, Juniata College may be worth checking into.