{"id":64747,"date":"2026-05-18T13:52:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T17:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dental\/?p=64747"},"modified":"2026-05-22T15:28:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T19:28:12","slug":"news-2026-bu-asda-chapter-gold-crown-award-for-community-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dental\/2026\/05\/18\/news-2026-bu-asda-chapter-gold-crown-award-for-community-service\/","title":{"rendered":"BU ASDA Chapter Receives 2026 Gold Crown Award for Community Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Boston University\u00a0American Student Dental Association (BU\u00a0ASDA)\u00a0chapter won a Gold Crown Award for Community Service at the 2026\u00a0ASDA Annual Session\u00a0in February.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were incredibly proud.\u00a0It felt\u00a0really meaningful\u00a0to be able to\u00a0represent\u00a0GSDM\u00a0and to be recognized as a chapter that truly prioritizes community service,\u201d\u00a0wrote\u00a0Sommer\u00a0Seitz\u00a0DMD 27\u00a0and\u00a0Michael\u00a0Smith\u00a0DMD 27, chair and vice chair respectively of the BU ASDA Gold Crown\u00a0committee, in a joint statement.\u00a0\u201cMore than anything, it\u00a0validated\u00a0the effort and intention behind the work our members put in throughout the year. Our goal has always been to make a real impact in our community, not just to\u00a0participate\u00a0in service, but to be thoughtful and consistent in how we show up for others.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Sommer Seitz DMD 27, BU ASDA Gold Crown committee chair, and Michael Smith DMD 27, BU ASDA Gold Crown committee vice chair. (Photo submitted by Seitz and Smith)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The BU ASDA Gold Crown Awards spotlights the ongoing efforts ASDA chapters put into supporting their members and communities. There are six categories\u00a0representing\u00a0key ASDA chapter goals: member engagement, community service, advocacy, health and wellness, member communications, and professional development and leadership.\u00a0\u00a0All district finalists are also eligible for the \u201cMember Favorite\u201d\u00a0award;\u00a0GSDM was recognized as the 2026\u00a0\u201cMember Favorite\u201d\u00a0runner-up.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to\u00a0Seitz and\u00a0Smith,\u00a0one of BU ASDA\u2019s biggest community service initiatives\u00a0recently\u00a0has been focused on addressing\u00a0food insecurity\u00a0in the greater Boston community. In response, BU ASDA organized a\u00a0Thanksgiving meal kit assembly event in\u00a0<\/span>partnership with Action for Boston Community Development. ASDA members\u00a0assisted\u00a0in\u00a0assembling,\u00a0packaging, and\u00a0distributing\u00a0meal kits through Action for Boston Community Development and Pine Street Inn.\u00a0The initiative was successful in putting together\u00a0more than\u00a0100 shelf-stable meal kits.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Seitz and Smith\u00a0wrote that\u00a0receiving the 2026 Gold Crown Award shows that\u00a0community services\u00a0initiatives\u00a0are valuable for dental students to be\u00a0involved in\u00a0during their dental education\u00a0to strength bonds to the local community.\u00a0The pair added that the chapter plans to use this win as motivation to continue expanding new avenues for community service.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWinning this award is really motivating because it reinforces that the work\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0doing is meaningful and making an impact,\u201d\u00a0Seitz and Smith\u00a0wrote in their statement.\u00a0\u201cWe want to continue creating initiatives that are intentional, sustainable, and truly responsive to the needs of our community.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By\u00a0<\/span>Rachel Grace Philipson<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Boston University American Student Dental Association (BU ASDA) chapter won a Gold Crown Award for Community Service at the 2026 ASDA Annual Session in February.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21998,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13850,13840,13837,13891],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64747"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21998"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64747"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64748,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64747\/revisions\/64748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/dental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}