You Are Why: Students in Action
Dear Members of the Boston University Community,
Today, I am pleased to announce the next phase of “You Are Why,” which will focus on the student experience.
“You Are Why: Students in Action” celebrates our students and enables us to seek new partnerships and philanthropic opportunities to fund undergraduate academic and career scholarships, internships, and research across our schools and colleges.
We know that students who engage in hands-on, experiential-learning opportunities have greater success in the classroom and are better positioned to make an impact within their chosen careers. At the same time, fostering an academically rigorous environment that also prepares our students to be global citizens is central to Boston University’s North Star vision and our Strategic Framework, Charting Our Future.
“You Are Why: Students in Action” supports this mission through targeted fundraising for three goals:
Building out Boston University Launchpad, a summer internship program for first-year students.
Creating a new, comprehensive financial scholarship.
Funding internships across the University’s schools, colleges, and centers.
Boston University Launchpad is the University’s new internship and career education initiative for first-year students. This program, developed by people across the University, promotes early access to experiential-learning opportunities so that more students can build skills, confidence, and relationships from the beginning of their college careers. We will pilot Boston University Launchpad this summer with 30 students and, with support from “You Are Why: Students in Action,” increase it to include over 1,000 students within two years.
Boston University is committed to access and affordability. Yet, additional efforts are needed to ensure that all students can take advantage of high-impact practices such as study abroad and internships. Thus, we are also raising funds to create a new type of scholarship that will cover tuition, housing, and meals, as well as costs related to participation in Boston University Launchpad, global learning experiences, advanced internships, and other professional-readiness programs.
This next campaign phase builds upon the success we have already seen since the launch of the “You Are Why” initiative last fall. This University-wide effort to show the impacts of our research, scholarship, and partnerships has already raised close to $8 million to advance Boston University’s research and academic missions.
These funds are fueling seed grants for convergent research, expanding our Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, and providing critical support for PhD students across the University. In addition, our Board of Trustees has committed matching funds to partner with donors who wish to endow PhD fellowships, doubling the impact of their investment.
This new phase, “You Are Why: Students in Action,” complements rather than replaces these ongoing efforts by centering the undergraduate student experience. Through the programs supported by this next stage of our initiative, we are building more experiential-learning opportunities for our students as well as ensuring that Boston University meets the growing demands on higher education.
Thank you for your support of this initiative. I look forward to the new partnerships and possibilities that emerge as we continue to focus on those we serve.
Sincerely,
Melissa Gilliam
President
*4/16/26 This message was sent to students, faculty, and staff.