Jeffrey Alan Basinger Leadership Scholarship

The Jeffrey Alan Basinger Leadership Scholarship has been established to honor the work and memory of Jeff Basinger, a long-time resident in Grand Junction and an activist and health educator. The donors wish to provide support to LGBTQ+ students who might not otherwise have the potential to further their education without financial assistance, and develop LGBTQ+ leaders in western Colorado. In 1992, Jeff helped found the Common Decency Coalition (later Western Equality), the first LGBTQ+ rights organization in western Colorado. As a gay man living with HIV, he also was a tireless advocate for people living with HIV/ AIDS helping to found the Western Colorado AIDS Project and working at the state and national levels for HIV/AIDS awareness, education and prevention.