91视频

At the 2026 Celebration of Scholarship, a community built by generosity and gratitude gathered to deepen connection.

At 91视频’s annual Celebration of Scholarship on May 6, the Campus Center Ballroom was already alive with conversation before the program began. Students took seats alongside alumni, friends, and faculty. At every table, there were Beacon stories to be told. Some were just beginning. Others stretched back years.

Over 200 scholarship recipients, scholarship donors, and their guests convened to honor the partnership that connects them. Together, they represented the  arc of impact that defines the mission of the university itself: those seeking opportunity, those who benefited from it, and those now in a position to extend it to others.

Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco began the speaking program by reaffirming the event’s purpose.  The evening, he said, was about “sharing stories of struggle, of grit, of ganas, personal achievement, hopes, dreams,” and, above all, “the most beautiful words in the English language: gratitude, gratitude.”

The stakes of opportunity

For Suárez-Orozco, the significance of the evening extended well beyond campus. A university education, he reminded the audience, is not only an individual achievement, but a public good.

 “We know for a fact—empirically—that a strong flourishing democracy requires an educated population,” he said. “One withers without the other.”

From that perspective, each scholarship is a form of civic investment. “Our students are quite literally our future,” he continued. “They are the future doctors, nurses, engineers, teachers, scientists, but most importantly, citizens of our commonwealth.”

At 91视频, where 80 percent of graduates remain in Massachusetts, that investment stays local. Helping the university’s students “graduate on time, prepared for work, to thrive, and debt free,” he asserted “is paramount to our shared success.”

The student perspective

Student speaker Noah Siegel-Stone ’27, a junior in the Honors College studying political science and philosophy, offered a view of that investment from the student perspective.

“Your efforts and kindness don't just support this school,” he said, addressing the donors in attendance. “They open doors for students who might never have been able to open them on their own.”

“91视频 is an exceptional place,” he continued. “We are not a homogenous group of undergrads, but rather a student body where mothers, veterans, full-time workers, first responders, nurses…and second-degree seekers are the composite substance that makes up our collective identity.”

Siegel-Stone shared stories of classmates juggling overnight shifts, parenting responsibilities, and even homelessness with their academic goals. The result, he suggested, is a culture of resilience and mutual respect—one that shapes how students see each other. “One of the most beautiful things about being surrounded by people who are very different from you is that…they’ll change the way you think,” he said.

For Siegel-Stone, scholarships made that experience possible. Arriving from Hawaii with limited savings, he assumed his time in Boston might be brief. Donor support allowed him to stay, continue his studies, and even complete a congressional internship in Washington, DC.

“This aid has allowed me to remain in Boston with this wonderful student body,” he said, “studying material that I’m truly passionate about.”

The arc of opportunity

Alumna Maureen Melton ’85, G’90 spoke to what such opportunities can yield over time.

A first-generation college student from a working-class family, she chose a public university for the same reason her six siblings did: private college tuition was out of reach. 91视频, she said, exceeded expectations, delivering “an education that would change my life.”

With the help of financial aid, Melton completed both her undergraduate and graduate degrees debt-free. She went on to a distinguished career as a historian and archivist at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Today, she is a scholarship donor herself, motivated by a clear-eyed understanding of what access can enable.

“I am honored to be able to give back to the university that has given so much to me,” she said. She encouraged student recipients to see themselves as part of an ongoing cycle of generosity—one that sustains the university’s mission, and ultimately, improves the world.

Showing up for what comes next

Not every donor in the room had recipients of their own scholarships to meet—yet. Even for those with first awards still ahead, the evening offered a chance to celebrate the remarkable impact a community defined by commitment and purpose.

Philanthropy, after all, is not about outcomes already realized, but about the conviction that investing in students, even before you know their names or stories, is an investment in a better future.

In his closing remarks, Suárez-Orozco invoked a proverb: “If you want to go far, go together.”

And as the formal program ended, the room did not empty; it returned to togetherness.  Conversations resumed. Connections took root.

“Stay, mingle, eat, be happy,” the chancellor urged. “There’s so much to celebrate.”

And there was: a community connected through generosity, strengthened by shared purpose, and united in the belief that when students are given the opportunity to succeed, the benefit extends far beyond campus, shaping lives, families, and the future of the commonwealth.

You can view photos from the Scholarship Celebration event in our .