Giving Tuesday Is a Chance to Support Students Through Scholarships, Campus Resources, and Research Opportunities
Annual one-day fundraising event is December 2
Neuroscience major Agasthya Kamath (CAS’28) (left), who conducted research with Laura Lowery, a Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine associate professor of hematology and medical oncology, in summer 2025, presents his work at the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) Symposium October 17. UROP is one of many funds BU is highlighting on Giving Tuesday. Photo by Morgan Danna
Giving Tuesday Is a Chance to Support Students Through Scholarships, Campus Resources, and Research Opportunities
Annual one-day fundraising event is December 2
On Tuesday, December 2, Boston University will participate in Giving Tuesday, the global philanthropic event held each year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Since the initiative’s launch in 2012, millions of donors from over 300 countries worldwide have supported causes meaningful to them.
This year is BU’s 12th consecutive Giving Tuesday, and the University is focused on enhancing students’ experience through support for scholarships, campus life, and research. As well as helping students, the funds raised on Giving Tuesday serve society at large. This idea aligns with the mission of BU’s ongoing You Are Why campaign for research, announced in late September. When students thrive personally and academically, their work will have impact far beyond BU’s campuses.
Following are the areas that will benefit from gifts of any amount.
Scholarships
The Boston University Alumni Association (BUAA) Scholarship was launched in 2023 and invites the Terrier community, especially BU’s more than 400,000 alumni, to secure a bright future for exceptional undergraduate students. To multiply the impact of this scholarship, the BU Century Challenge will match the BUAA Scholarship’s spendable income for the next 100 years.
Other scholarships being highlighted this year include the BU Women’s Guild Scholarship, for graduate students, and the General Scholarship Fund. To support educational access for current and future BU students, visit the Giving Tuesday scholarship fund page.
Campus life
Founded in 1986 in honor of the late Rev. Howard Thurman (Hon.’67), dean emeritus of Marsh Chapel, the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground advances Thurman’s belief in the unity of all people. An inclusive cultural hub on campus, the center offers lectures and discussions, film screenings and events, and countless resources to connect BU community members to one another and to encourage self-discovery.
Other organizations enriching BU campus life include the Newbury Center for first-generation students, the LGBTQIA+ Student Resource Center, and BU Hillel. The Giving Tuesday campus life page offers ways to support these organizations.
Research
In tandem with the You Are Why campaign, BU is highlighting opportunities to support research this Giving Tuesday. The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) matches undergraduate students with faculty mentors tackling real-world questions or with challenges of the students’ choosing and exposes students to research opportunities early in their academic careers. Support for UROP will close the gap for the 40 percent of current applicants that the University cannot currently fund.
The Future Scholars Fund will expand access to fellowships for BU’s PhD researchers, who drive important discoveries and mentor undergraduate students. Gifts of any size will contribute to doctoral fellowships across the University.
BU is committed to blending approaches from multiple disciplines to solve society’s most complex challenges, which has already led to breakthroughs in brain health, climate science, AI, and more. Through the Research Futures Fund, donors can support faculty doing this convergent research by providing seed funding for new projects. To learn more about opportunities to support BU researchers at all levels, visit the You Are Why fund page.
“‘You Are Why’ underscores Boston University’s strength as a leading research institution and highlights the many ways BU discoveries improve lives and strengthen society,” says Josh Aiello (Wheelock’09), vice president for development and campaigns. “Now more than ever, our faculty and student researchers need support to continue their transformative work.”
In addition to these University-wide priorities, each school and college will highlight several of its own funds. Find a full list of opportunities to support specific schools and colleges here.
“The Terrier community is passionate and generous,” says Kellie Sullivan, executive director of Annual Giving. “This Giving Tuesday, and every year, we are eager to see the impact of this generosity on campus, in Boston, and across the globe.”
In 2024, over 1,100 donors made gifts on Giving Day, supporting a wide array of funds and raising more than $300,000. Organizers are reaching out to the BU community through a dedicated Giving Tuesday webpage, emails, texts, and social media posts hoping to outraise last year’s total. All gifts made on December 2 (midnight to midnight, EST) will count toward BU’s Giving Tuesday fundraising goal.
For more information, and to make your tax-deductible gift today, visit bu.edu/givingtuesday.
Sarah Leithner is an executive assistant for alumni engagement with BU Advancement. She can be reached at smleit@bu.edu.