City, Country, World

Boston University has a strong commitment to community on all scales. The BU community is as small as our campus and as broad as the globe itself; we are committed to fostering a sense of community on every level. Below you can find some information about the BU community on a citywide, nationwide, and worldwide level.

BU in the City

BU is a university in the heart of a city, and our identity is shaped around this urban environment. The city of Boston has helped to make BU a great university, and so we are dedicated to giving back to the city as well, through a variety of social outreach programs.

Education

One of BU’s strongest commitments is to the education and intellectual development of city youths. We work closely with a variety of elementary, middle and high schools in the city of Boston, and we actively work to promote their success. Our most prominent city-based educational initiatives include:

• The Boston Scholars Program, through which we give fifty four-year, full-tuition scholarships to graduating seniors from Boston’s public high schools, and the Cardinal Medeiros Scholarships, which provide four-year full-tuition scholarships to graduating seniors from area Catholic high schools;
• The Boston University/Chelsea Partnership, under which Boston University administers Chelsea’s public schools. In the sixteen years that this partnership has existed, BU has raised more than $12 million to supplement the public school budget and has provided more than $14 million of in-kind and direct support to Chelsea, resulting in substantial improvements to the Chelsea public school curriculum, professional development opportunities for teachers, and great improvement in basic support services;
• A variety of tutoring and educational development programs for Boston Public School students, including the Boston University Initiative for Literacy Development (BUILD), the CityLab, the Early Learning Center, the Kids to College Program, Project STEP, Upward Bound, and many others.

Boston University also sponsors educational programs such as the Prison Education Program, which provides and subsidizes college credit courses for inmates at the Massachusetts Department of Correction medium security prisons, and the Intergenerational Literacy Project, which encourages language and literacy development in families who speak languages other than English so as to enable parents to participate more fully in their children’s education. These are just a few of the many educational programs and social services that Boston University provides throughout the city.

Nationwide

BU is a school of national reputation, consistently ranked among the top 100 private universities in America. As such, the BU community extends nationwide as we draw students from all 50 states and beyond.

Our nationwide reputation and sense of community has grown as evidenced by President Brown’s appointment to the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST) . This is an advisory panel appointed by the President of the United States that “enable[s] the President to receive advice from the private sector and academic community on technology, scientific research priorities, and math and science education.” Dr. Brown is one of just 35 members of this Council, which directly impacts United States policy in matters of science and technology. This is a remarkable honor for Dr. Brown, one which highlights the regard in which he is held on a nationwide level and which makes the entire Boston University community proud!

Boston University also has a strong commitment to the American community of higher education institutions. Because of this dedication, we count ourselves among the number of universities that took in students from Tulane University in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Tulane was one of several institutes of higher learning that was devastated by Katrina and was forced to shut down for a semester; BU joined with other universities across the country to provide a temporary home and learning environment for students from these schools free of charge. Katrina highlighted, for us and for other schools, the interconnection and interdependence of all institutions of higher education nationwide, and reaffirmed our sense of community.

Global Community

President Brown brings to Boston University an energetic commitment to growing BU’s international reputation and making ours a truly global community. To this end, he convened the President’s Council on Boston University and the Global Future. The Council, co-chaired by Dean Jay Halfond and Professor Ronald Richardson, was charged with developing a fuller understanding of what globalization means to Boston University and with taking steps to implement a strategic plan in this direction. BU has always had a number of vibrant study abroad programs throughout Europe; since Dr. Brown has stepped into office, he has begun a series of initiatives aimed at expanding BU’s influence still farther, opening dialogue with such countries as Singapore, Jordan, Oman, Lesotho, and United Arab Emirates. In recognition of his dedication, Singapore awarded President Brown an Honorary Citizenship.

More on the Council can be found on their website at http://www.bu.edu/globalfuture/.