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Colleen Markley (’97) is on a roll. She just finished writing her first novel, Lilith Land. Several of her other works have been published in anthologies and magazines. She’s received multiple writing accolades, including the Nickie’s Prize for Humor Writing and the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop Humor Writer of the Month.
Success can change a person, but that hasn’t been true for Markley. Warm, down-to-earth and with a wry sense of humor, she talks openly and candidly about her humble upbringing in New Jersey. She remembers that receiving an admission offer from BU—along with a generous financial aid package—was a turning point in her life. “A lot of people like me don’t wind up in college; a lot of people like me don’t have opportunities for that kind of an education,” she explains.
I didn’t have the greatest grades in high school. So, I was grateful for BU for saying, ‘Yes, we believe in you and think you’ve got the potential to do well here.’
Colleen Markley
Determined to prove BU right, Markley thrived as a film and television major at COM. She wrote several original screenplays and won the college’s most prestigious undergraduate honor—the Blue Chip Award—before graduating cum laude.
Post-college, she landed her first job at WNET, New York’s public television station. Now, as a donor to COM, Markley supports student scholarships and the general COM Fund. “I’m a huge believer in making your way to a place where you feel comfortable, and then turning around and reaching a hand back and pulling up whoever else needs to get there,” she explains. “Not everybody starts out in the same place. There are a lot of us that have some catching up to do.”
Markley also believes in sending BU students the same message she once received: “I want them to know: We care about you. We think you’re worth the investment, too.”