UBC Okanagan is embarking on the largest fundraising campaign for students its 12-year history. The Blue & Gold Campaign for Students aims to raise $100 million across both UBC campuses over three years to give promising students access to a life-changing education.
鈥淒onors in the Okanagan have already played a crucial role in building our campus and shaping what it is today,鈥� says Deborah Buszard, Deputy Vice-chancellor and Principal of UBC鈥檚 Okanagan campus. 鈥淲e are equally committed to building greater supports for students to ensure the best and the brightest from near and far have access to a world-class education right here in the Okanagan, regardless of financial circumstances.鈥�
The Blue & Gold Campaign for Students will support a range of student awards, including scholarships, bursaries, and experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students at the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses. The awards will support students in need, students from under-represented communities, and leadership-based awards.
Tushar Dave, a recipient of the Deepak Binning Foundation Community Builder Scholarship and now a third-year undergraduate in medical biochemistry and molecular biology at UBC Okanagan, is one student who is benefitting from a UBC donor-funded award.
鈥淭he biggest factor for me was getting a UBC education here at home. I live in 91大黄鸭 and it is wonderful for me to have a UBC world-class education at my doorstep鈥� said Dave. 鈥淪cholarships allow me to focus on what matters most: my studies. It鈥檚 important to continue supporting students so that we can give back to our communities. So that we can go to work and actually make a change in the world.鈥�
Haley Seven Deers, a third-year history and anthropology student at UBC Okanagan, is another.
鈥淭hese awards are truly life-changing for students,鈥� said Seven Deers, who received a UBC Okanagan Aboriginal Entrance Award. 鈥淓very bit, no matter how small or large that you donate is going to have a huge impact on people鈥檚 lives. And not just on the students, but on all the people they will affect later in their careers. It鈥檚 such a beautiful thing that has such a far-reaching impact within society.鈥�
UBC is providing matching funds of up to $5 million for new endowed donations to select Blue & Gold campaign priorities, which include bursaries and renewable entrance awards for students with high academic standing, known as Presidential Scholars, as well as for outstanding students recognized for their achievement and leadership who demonstrate financial need.
The campaign will also focus on the graduate student experience including opportunities to pursue research in collaboration with community partners and organizations to provide real-life applications for public benefit.
鈥淭he student awards that I have received have really helped me to focus my time and energy on engaging with communities in a meaningful way and also to focus on field work,鈥� said Kelsey Copes-Gerbitz, a graduate student who studies wildfires at UBC in Vancouver. 鈥淢y dream for the future is to help enable communities to co-exist with wildfire. Fire isn鈥檛 going away, but our people and our landscapes can be more resilient to fire and learn how to co-exist with it better.鈥�
For information about the Blue & Gold Campaign for Students, visit:
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