ASPIRE: Antiracist Scholarship (JD Students)

ASPIRE (Antiracist Scholars for Progress, Innovation, and Racial Equity) is a collaboration between BU School of Law and the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research. It looks to educate and train a new generation of antiracist legal professionals.

ASPIRE provides a full tuition scholarship for all three years to a select number of students who have demonstrated a commitment to antiracism, social justice, and racial equity. Qualified applicants will have relevant lived or direct experience confronting racism. They may desire to work in the public interest, governmental, or private sectors. They need not have training in antiracism or be familiar with particular academic or intellectual jargon, so long as their commitment to antiracism is clear.

To be considered for the ASPIRE: Antiracist Scholarship, you must submit an additional essay with your application for admission. In addition to the scholarship essay, select candidates will be invited to interview.

In addition to the full-tuition scholarship, recipients will:

  • Participate in a semester-long ASPIRE-focused antiracist lawyering experiential opportunity;
  • Receive a BU Law faculty mentor;
  • Participate in antiracist trainings and programming;
  • Participate in cohort cohesion by attending meetings and gatherings organized for this purpose;
  • Help recruit the next cohort of ASPIRE scholars; and
  • Join a diverse cohort of hard working, creative students who are eager to collaborate on antiracist policy change and societal transformation.

The application deadline is January 5, 2024.

ASPIRE: Antiracist Scholarship FAQ’s

How to Apply

  • Attach an essay to your application for admission responding to the ASPIRE: Antiracist Scholarship prompts. This essay must be in addition to your personal statement.

We welcome applications from anyone interested in antiracism and social justice work. The selection committee aims to award the scholarship to applicants who have relevant lived or direct experience confronting racism. Top candidates for ASPIRE will present application materials that show a dedicated commitment to antiracism, social justice, and racial equity. The cohort will represent students from a variety of demographic backgrounds and underrepresented groups, including Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color and first-generation professionals. Recipients will embody a variety of experiences, cultures, backgrounds — particularly those that are currently underrepresented in the legal profession.

The selection committee will have access to your application for admission, so you should use the scholarship essay as an opportunity to provide additional evidence of your commitment to antiracism. Your essay should help us to understand how your past experience has informed your commitment to social justice and how this will contribute to your potential as a leader in antiracism, both at BU Law and in the legal profession.

Applicants for ASPIRE may also apply to the Distinguished Scholars Program, provided they meet the Distinguished Scholars Application deadline of November 9, 2023.

Applicants for ASPIRE may not apply for the BU Bound Program or the Public Interest Scholarship.