Reggie Jean (CAS’95, Wheelock’05) was awarded a Scarlet Key his senior year at BU. In 2023, his wife Ruthie Jean (CAS’95, Wheelock’98) received the honorary award, making them a Scarlet Key couple. Both Ruthie and Reggie embody the Scarlet Key Honor Society’s purpose of recognizing Terriers who have made significant contributions to BU’s community. Ruthie works as the associate dean for academic programs and enrollment at the College of Fine Arts, and Reggie is the director of BU’s Upward Bound programs at the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, which provides holistic support to low-income and first-generation college bound students. We sat down with the Jeans to understand their relationship with BU as both students and professionals, and why the award means so much to both of them.
When did you two first meet?
Ruthie: Oh gosh, 1993?
Reggie: Ruthie and I were both orientation leaders as students here at Boston University. The first time we met was when we went to the training for that. I remember running to the bus [to Peterborough, New Hampshire]…
Ruthie: You were late! Everyone’s waiting for one person, and then he walks in!
Reggie: Well, it’s all debateable. So walking onto that bus was the first time that we met.
Ruthie: We knew each other throughout college. We graduated in ’95 and we went separate ways. So we didn’t start dating until 2000 when Reggie came back for a summer job.
Can you tell us about the impact BU had on your lives?
Ruthie: We’ve both received an excellent education, we both have our undergrad and graduate degrees from here. We were able to earn our graduate degrees while we were working at BU. Our education and our professional network are attributed to BU.
Reggie: It’s profound, because it’s not only the classroom experiences that have helped shape my way of thinking. All my network of friends, colleagues, and staff at BU… we continue to benefit from relationships that began when we were first students. Without BU, I would not have met Ruthie, who is, of course, 100 percent of the benefit.
What inspired you to come back and work at BU?
Ruthie: Part of what’s drawn us to stay at BU is the diversity of people, thoughts, and ideas. You can be challenged as a student, and in that same environment, we are now challenged professionally. There’s always something new happening, there’s always some adaptability, there’s always some new challenge.
Reggie: The goal is to help students who are first-generation college potential, or may be from families that are from low-income backgrounds, to give them access to opportunities that will give them a strong preparation for college. For me, coming from a background where college was not really part of my neighborhood… professionally [BU] was somewhere I felt I could be of use.
The Jeans take meaning from the connection between their direct work with students and the long-lasting, broader impact of their service. Whether it’s supporting a student through a challenging time or giving pre-college students access to better resources and opportunities, Ruthie and Reggie’s work goes beyond their immediate community and sets students up for long-term success.
What is your favorite thing about BU?
Reggie: The work that I do, and just to be a part of the student’s lives. Ruthie doesn’t realize this, but just the fact that we get to drive into work everyday, just the extra time to be able to spend [together], for me, is great. That’s what makes me look forward to going to work. Whether I’m late or on time.
Ruthie: It’s being amongst that environment of experts and scholars, and people of so many different intersectionalities that I find really inspiring. Because BU is so diverse… you’re getting all the intersectionalities, all the various identities. So in terms of individuation and individual journey, it’s never boring.
What does it mean to be included in the Scarlet Key Honor Society?
Ruthie: It’s very affirming, because I’ve given my career to trying to make an impact for students and try to make the individual’s journey better. It gives you the chance to look at your work in more of the aggregate, which we often don’t do.
Reggie: To be in the category of… people like Ken Elmore, David Zamojski, Michael Dennehy, Ruthie Jean, Abby Elmore all the people that I have admired, it’s definitely an honor to be part of that group.
The Jeans both value being of service to others, as a couple and in their professional lives. Joint inclusion in the Scarlet Key Honor Society confirms that they are accomplishing their missions in their own fields, even though the groups they serve don’t always overlap. It connects their individual efforts, showing that their work is successfully helping students grow and have more opportunities on their educational journeys.
How does it feel to share the recognition with such a significant person in your life?
Ruthie: It tells me at some level that I’m keeping up with him! It’s a bridge between the individual work that we do, that we share.
Reggie: Both Ruthie and I did resident assistants, student advisors, worked within programming at the College of Arts & Sciences, and knew a lot of the people who got the Scarlet Key. I thought she was deserving of the Scarlet Key when we were students, and definitely deserving of it now.
What aspect of the Scarlet Key Honor Society do you enjoy most?
Ruthie: In many ways, it’s an affirmation that maybe I really am helping, making a difference, making an impact.
Reggie: Being Scarlet Key means the most. It really is the highest honor that you could receive as a student. [But] instead of something like a plaque, they should give us a sword to hang on our wall! Then on my Zoom meetings, people will be like “Wow, he’s Scarlet Key!” And we’ll also take a ring, like the Patriots.