Following the two-year anniversary of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260, including Boston University graduate student Lu Lingzi, the scholarship fund created in Lingzi’s name continues to grow and will honor its first recipients beginning in the 2015-16 academic year.
The Lu Lingzi Scholarship Fund will award two graduate students an annual stipend covering full tuition costs for up to two years, said BU spokesman Colin Riley. Lingzi would have earned her master’s degree from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 2014.
“It’s to commemorate that horrible day and a life cut short,” he said. “It was the fastest accumulation of a scholarship we had ever seen, and it showed the strength of the community we have here at BU, and in Boston … It was a horrible thing that happened, and the university is more than pleased to honor Lingzi.”
The scholarship fund has grown to $1 million since BU trustee Kenneth Feld proposed the fund at a Campaign for Boston University executive meeting following the bombings in 2013, Riley said.
Within six months of its establishment, the scholarship fund reached its $1 million fundraising goal, The Daily Free Press reported on Oct. 29, 2013.
Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore said the fund provides a platform for anyone who is interested in giving.
“I appreciate that our trustees were the people who set it up and started it, but it’s just fantastic that not only our community, but the world community has really contributed to it,” he said.
The fund seeks students who exemplify the qualities that made Lingzi valuable in the BU community, Elmore said.
“I hope that we are able to bring people from around the world, particularly Chinese students, here. It’s for those students who are studying in a master’s program and who are living a life like Lu Lingzi did,” he said. “She was effervescent, full of life, full of energy, smart and dedicated, so I hope, that anything, that’s going to bring more of that energy into our community. I’m all for it.”
The dean of each school or college may nominate one student for consideration each year, and selection will be based on the student’s academic achievements and potential for success, Riley said.
Daniel Solworth, chief of staff at the Dean of Students office, said fundraising efforts for the scholarship fund, such as those from the BU men’s lacrosse team, are appropriately timed.
“The university wanted to take some time and really reflect and honor Lingzi’s memory in a meaningful way,” he said. “Through that, our men’s lacrosse team has adopted Lingzi’s scholarship fund as one of their causes they wanted to celebrate. Both faculty and students have felt the impact of Lingzi’s loss and have found ways to honor her memory.”
Dan Mercurio, director of marketing for Boston University Athletics, said the lacrosse team sold t-shirts in the George Sherman Union to raise money for the scholarship fund.
“Originally, the request came from a student on the team [who] came to me and wanted to do something around the Boston Marathon [and] wanted to benefit the community,” he said. “I actually ran the marathon in honor of [Lingzi] the year before, so I suggested raising money for her scholarship fund, and he [the student] loved the idea.”
Members of the team presented a $5,000 check to Lingzi’s family during Friday’s home game against the College of the Holy Cross.
“It’s important to remind ourselves how great this community is and how in times of trouble that we were able to come together, and plus she was just an outstanding person,” Mercurio said. “We have already had other coaches from other teams asking us how they can get involved to raise money for the fund next year [and] it will only expand further from sports. I can see this going into any element of life on campus.”
Alexandra Petsuck, a marketing intern for BU Athletics who helped sell the shirts at Friday’s game, said she was touched by the outpouring of support.
“Parents were still wanting to give money even though we were running out of sizes,” she said. “They were still more than willing to donate because they know it’s going to the scholarship fund.”
Petsuck said she is glad the money will honor Lingzi in a way that helps members of the BU community.
“To see her memory honored like this is just amazing,” she said. “Being able to see … what good came out of it, despite the fact of how horrible that day was. The memory of that day will never go away and obviously money can’t bring any of them back, but having a scholarship in honor of her memory … [she] will never be forgotten.”
Amanda Burke contributed to the reporting of this story.
