{"id":4082,"date":"2026-04-14T07:32:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/studentwellbeing\/?p=4082"},"modified":"2026-05-11T10:45:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T14:45:45","slug":"meet-the-winners-of-bus-2026-hospitality-innovation-and-student-wellbeing-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/studentwellbeing\/2026\/04\/14\/meet-the-winners-of-bus-2026-hospitality-innovation-and-student-wellbeing-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet The Winners of BU\u2019s 2026 Hospitality Innovation and Student Wellbeing Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It all starts with an idea.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the spirit of Experience Innovation<\/a>, Boston University School of Hospitality Administration and Student Wellbeing celebrate the winners of the 2026 $20k Student Wellbeing Competition.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Student Wellbeing Competition<\/a>\u00a0focuses on\u00a0innovative ideas or initiatives that promote the\u00a0social\u00a0wellbeing of students at BU. The success of these ventures were assessed on creativity, novelty, reach, and feasibility to implement.<\/p>\n

Through a multi-stage judging process, five finalists were selected from over 40 applications. Award winners were announced at the BU SHA Hospitality Leadership Summit held April 10.<\/p>\n

Student Wellbeing Competition Winners<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>1st Place \u2013 BU Brought to You! ($10,000)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sarah Keating, Grace Dolan & Kristin Hudson – SPH Graduate Students<\/p>\n

“BU Brought to You!” addresses loneliness experienced by off-campus students by hosting social-wellbeing events closer to where interested students live, such as local libraries or coffee shops.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>2nd Place \u2013 TerrierFit ($6,000)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dannar\u00a0Zharkyn\u00a0& Ana Balaci – ENG Graduate Students<\/p>\n

TerrierFit\u00a0is an app that connects BU students who want to work out or play sports together, reducing gym anxiety while making physical activity more social, accessible, and easy to organize on campus.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>3rd Place – CommonGround ($4,000)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dannar\u00a0Zharkyn\u00a0& Ana Balaci – ENG Graduate Students<\/p>\n

CommonGround is a digital toolkit that helps BU roommates set healthy boundaries, resolve conflicts respectfully, and maintain positive shared living environments through guided support.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Finalist: BU Integration Lab<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maryjoy Gerald, Sam Amoako-Kusi, & Feven Lencha – SPH Graduate Students<\/p>\n

The BU Integration Lab is a student-led hub where international BU students form small cohorts to connect, navigate campus life & build a lasting, supportive community.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Student Wellbeing Competition has grown each year thanks to partnerships across campus, including funding provided by BU Student Wellbeing<\/a>, College of Communication<\/a>, Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences<\/a>, School of Hospitality Administration<\/a>, School of Social Work<\/a>, and <\/a>Wheelock College of Education & Human Development.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Congratulations also to the winners of the $50k Hospitality Innovation Competition.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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

It all starts with an idea. In the spirit of Experience Innovation, Boston University School of Hospitality Administration and Student Wellbeing celebrate the winners of the 2026 $20k Student Wellbeing Competition. The\u00a0Student Wellbeing Competition\u00a0focuses on\u00a0innovative ideas or initiatives that promote the\u00a0social\u00a0wellbeing of students at BU. The success of these ventures were assessed on creativity, novelty, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8673,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/studentwellbeing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4082"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/studentwellbeing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/studentwellbeing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/studentwellbeing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8673"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/studentwellbeing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4082"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/studentwellbeing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4170,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/studentwellbeing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4082\/revisions\/4170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/studentwellbeing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/studentwellbeing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/studentwellbeing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}