Delco Satanists Awarding $666 Scholarships To Graduating Seniors

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — Satanic Delco, the once-local group that now has members across the world, is again offering students the chance to win $666 in scholarship funds.

The group is accepting applications for its Outsider Achievement Award scholarship.

The award seeks to recognize students "who buck the status quo and embrace individualism, empathy, free-thought, and skepticism."

This year marks the fourth year of the award, with Satanic Delco founder Joseph Rose telling Patch the group took a hiatus in 2024.

He said this year the group hopes to award more than one person the scholarship.

In the past, only local students were able to apply for the scholarship.

But now, Rose said, the award is open to all graduating high school seniors.

Rose said he tweaked the application, noting he is aware of the ability to us artificial intelligence to generate submissions for the award.

Applicants must choose one of the values of Outsider Satanism and elaborate on what that value means to them, and how it applies to their lives in an essay, poem, film, song, or other creative medium.

Those values are critical thinking and the pursuit of knowledge, balance, wonder, personal freedom, celebration of the self, justice, rebellion, and acceptance. More details on these values can be found online here.

"There are no specific requirements regarding word count, running time, etc.," the application website reads. "We will value honest expression and emotional impact above all else. Spill your guts, kid."

Those who plan to submit physical works should email the group with a description for arrangement to be made.

All submissions are due by June 6.

The submission form is available online here. Anyone who wishes to donate to the scholarship fund can do so online here.

While this year marks the fourth year of the scholarship program, it marks the fifth year of Satanic Delco. The group was founded Feb. 12, 2020.

"When I started the group, had basically had no, or extremely low, expectations," Rose said. "I was just a curious to see if there were any local people with an interest in this stuff."

Now, he said the group boasts members who are not just in Delaware County, but in other countries across the world.

"You get perspectives from people with dramatic differences," he said. "But the thing in common is an interest in Satanism."

For the record, Satanic Delco does not worship Satan, as the group does not believe in any supernatural beings.

"Religion can and should be separated from superstitious beliefs," the group's website reads. "To embody the name Satan means embracing rational inquiry without supernatural or outdated traditions. As Satanists, we should strive to sharpen our critical thinking skills and practice reasonable agnosticism in all things. Our beliefs are informed by the latest scientific understanding of the natural world, and never the other way around."

Satanic Delco is not affiliated with the Satanic Temple or the Church of Satan, the latter of which bucks the idea of community.

Rose said Satanic Delco has a lot in common with the Church of Satan, but has embraced coming together as opposed to shirking a sense of togetherness.

The group meets regularly, in person and virtually, for various activities. Whether it be a movie screening, a gaming night, or even the annual masquerade, Satanic Delco's members are always conversing and philosophizing with one another.

Rose said the group is apolitical and focuses on charity rather than activism, an aspect he said differentiates the group from the Satanic Temple, which garners headlines for erecting Satanic iconography alongside often Christian iconography in government spaces.

In the past, they have provided kits to homeless Philadelphians, hosted a collection drive for the Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County, and rallied for hungry Delconians.

Despite Rose's push for charity over activism, the group was instrumental in a dress code change at Penncrest High School.

For its fifth year, Satanic Delco is still looking into how it can contribute to the area's needs.

The focus for now is on the Outside Achievement Award Scholarship, but Rose said they will soon begin to look for its next charitable opportunity.

Learn more about Satanic Delco online here.