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Jeanne Knox, chair of the Parents Leadership Council and mother of College of Communication junior Merrill, (left) and Patti Gluchowski, mother of Sargent College junior Nina. Photo by Vernon Doucette |
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Parents typically send the University a check each semester made out to student accounting services. A growing number of BU parents go beyond that by also contributing to the Parents Campaign, which helps offset the cost of education. In the past fiscal year, more than 1,300 parents, grandparents, and friends of the University contributed more than $304,000 to the campaign, a 23 percent increase over the previous year. Tuition—$28,512—covers only about 55 percent of the yearly cost of educating an undergraduate. BU offsets the other $20,000 annually with income from endowment and gifts.
Gifts to the Parents Fund may be designated to a particular school or college; to an all-University program such as athletics, student life, undergraduate research, or scholarship; or to the area of greatest need.
The Parents Campaign is part of the newly reconfigured Parents Program. In addition to fundraising, the Parents Program organized two receptions for BU parents this past year. Boston University Trustee Bob Knox (CAS’74, GSM’75) and his wife, Jeanne, hosted a gathering at their home in Greenwich, Connecticut, in November, and Sharon Brenner, mother of Jonathan (CGS’07), hosted one in Glen Head, New York, in March. Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore (SED’87) spoke about campus life at both events. Five similar receptions will be held around the country this year, and the goal is to add receptions for parents of international students.
To help parents keep abreast of news and events at BU, the Parents Program recently launched a Web site (www.bu.edu/parentsprogram) and redesigned its biannual newsletter, Boston University Parent. The Web site provides information about all aspects of the BU experience, from the application process to sending care packages and electronic postcards to students, along with survival tips for parents, with advice on how to be supportive but not smothering. It also includes listings of athletic events, campus lectures, and alumni activities and gatherings around the country and abroad. And to help parents keep up with student culture, every Boston University Parent includes a pithy guide to what students are wearing, eating, and chatting about.
—Tim Stoddard
Gifts That Honor Their Sons |
