Merit Awards and Honors

Undergraduate Students

The Jane Morrow Rigg '79 and Jeffrey T. Rigg Internship Support Fund in Sociology

The Riggs Award provides up to $2,500 to support undergraduate sociology majors pursuing internships in sociology or related fields, including social research, social work, and community services. Funded through the generosity of a Sociology Department alumna and her spouse, the award is designed to help offset costs associated with internship experiences and to support the transformative, real-world learning opportunities these experiences provide.The recipients are selected on the basis of scholarship, service and character.

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, and applicants are encouraged to apply at any time. Decisions are typically made within a few weeks of submission. Here’s how:

Applications should include a statement about the internship the student is pursuing, documentation that the student has been accepted as an intern, as well as a brief statement regarding the relevance of the internship for the student’s educational and professional goals. In addition, the student should include a proposed budget and a brief letter of support from a faculty member in the department.

The request can include:

• Housing

• Transportation (train or bus tickets)

• Professional attire

• Mileage for driving back and forth to internships (including tolls)

• An hourly wage for time in internship (up to $15.00 per hour)

Questions or to Submit: Email Dr. Chrysanthi Leon (santhi@udel.edu)

Equal Justice Award

The Equal Justice Award supports undergraduate students in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice by helping to offset the often overlooked costs of higher education. Through the generosity of donors, recipients receive financial support for expenses such as books, administrative fees, graduate school applications, and test preparation, allowing them to focus on their academic and professional goals.

These awards make it possible for students to pursue research opportunities, prepare for graduate study, and take meaningful steps toward their future with confidence. In doing so, the award recognizes students who demonstrate strong academic achievement, a commitment to learning, and a dedication to advancing justice and equity. Recipients are selected on the basis of scholarship, service, and character.

 Some examples of how funds can be used include:

• Books

• Administrative fees

• Fees for applying to graduate school

• Test prep classes for admissions tests to graduate school (ex: GMAT, GRE, LSAT)

• Fees for taking admissions tests

To apply, please send an email to Dr. Chrysanthi Leon at santhi@udel.edu responding to the following:

1. How much are you requesting and how do you plan to use this award (please consider writing about this and including a budget)? 

2. How would having this money change your ability to be successful in those plans?

3. How would this award help to even the educational playing field for you?

2025 Winner – Nithila Chrisostam

Benjamin McLuckie Award

Benjamin McLuckie was an assistant professor of sociology in our department before his untimely death in 1975. After a brief career as a Presbyterian minister, he returned to graduate school and earned a Ph.D. degree in sociology, determined to do research and teach the discipline that he loved. He was an outstanding undergraduate teacher, dedicated to his students and capable of getting the very best out of them. Known for his humanity and integrity, he served as a role model for both his colleagues and his students. After his death, his family and friends created the Benjamin McLuckie Award to honor his memory and to recognize outstanding senior sociology majors who exemplify the qualities represented by Professor McLuckie’s life and work. The recipients are selected on the basis of scholarship, service and character.

2025 Winners – Erin Crayton, Darby Putney-Vasios

Len Perfetti Memorial Award

​Len Perfetti was a criminal justice major and also a varsity football player for the Blue Hens who began his college career in 1974. In 1977 he was diagnosed with an inoperable cancer of the lymphatic system. After extensive chemotherapy, he returned to the university in the spring of 1978, despite the fact that his condition was steadily worsening. That semester he earned a 3.77 and continued to volunteer a great deal of time working with juvenile offenders. In the summer of 1978 he was repeatedly hospitalized and underwent chemotherapy sessions at Sloan-Kettering in New York. In the fall he still enrolled for the last 12 credits that he needed to complete his B.A. in Criminal Justice, making arrangements with his professors to complete his required course work from his hospital bed. When he died at the age of 22 in November 1978, he had completed all of his course work required for his degree. Faculty members were so impressed by Len’s courage, tenacity, commitment to volunteerism, and his relentless pursuit of excellence that they created the Len Perfetti Award in his honor. The recipient of this award, a senior criminal justice major, is selected on the basis of scholarship, service, and character.

2025 Winner – Rabia Hussain