Tarun SinghWow, this is great news. Congrats to Tarun Singh, the winner of a $10,000 Sikh scholarship from the Sikh Scholarship Foundation. The fact that we have a Sikh Scholarship Foundation that actually awards scholarship is amazing, and the winner, Tarun, is excellent. Though I’ve never met him, my brief correspondence with him has been rewarding in itself.

Let’s not forget how great an achievement this is. Zillions of small groups award scholarships for various reasons in the US, and are usually backed by very large funds and endowments. And now we have a foundation dedicated to awarding budding Sikh youth that are on the path to success by society’s standards as well as Sikhi’s standards. Yes!

If I were in school now I’d apply for this scholarship!

Congrats again Tarun Singh! The full press release from the Sikh Scholarship Foundation is after the jump.

Cambridge, MA. The Sikh Scholarship Foundation (http://www.sikhscholarship.org) is delighted to announce the recipient of the first annual Harvard Sikh Scholarship. The annual scholarship of US $10,000 has been awarded to Tarun Singh of Santa Maria, California.

Tarun Singh is an undergraduate student at Harvard University where he is in his second year. He plans on concentrating in economics with a possible secondary field in statistics. Tarun is interested in politics and is active in Harvard’s John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at the Institute of Politics. He is interested in possibly pursuing a career in public service.

The members of the Board of Trustees and Advisors of the Sikh Scholarship Foundation wish him all the success in his coming years as a student at Harvard University and beyond.

Tarun Singh and four other scholars have also recently completed the Mata Sahib Kaur Course which is part of the Scholarship requirements and Mata Sahib Kaur Summer Program at Oxford University in the United Kingdom.

The summer course provided the scholars with the foundation and background of Sikh thought and doctrine through a combination of readings, lectures, facilitated discussions and activities. All aspects of Sikh thought and doctrine were taught through the lens of gurmat which is comprised of bani, tvarikh and rahit - scriptural narratives, historical precedents and code of conduct. Regarding the MSK Summer Course, Tarun Singh writes: “The MSK Summer Course breaks down the principles of Sikhi to the basics and has provided me with the tools necessary to analyze contemporary Sikh issues with respect to Sikh doctrine. It is great to see a group of young, active and enthusiastic Sikhs doing this type of seva and it has definitely encouraged me to strive to do the same.”

In its five years of existence the Sikh Scholarship foundation has provided 6 scholarships to Sikh students of Oxford University, UK via the Tercentennial Sikh Scholarship to University of Oxford. This year in addition to arranging for the Tercentennial Sikh Scholarship to Harvard University, the Foundation has added a Quadcentennial Sikh Scholarship to Cambridge University, UK. The recipients of the 2007 Oxford and Cambridge Scholarship will be announced in January 2008.

The Sikh Scholarship Foundation would also like to appreciate the efforts of the Sikh Research Institute which has been instrumental in providing the course material and instruction for the Mata Sahib Kaur Course as well as acting as facilitator of the fund raising efforts for the Harvard Scholarship. If you would like to donate to the Harvard Sikh Scholarship please visit www.sikhri.org/donations and chose “Sikh Scholarship Foundation (Harvard)” when making your tax-deductible contribution to this worthy cause.