UBC fundraising $100-million to help students

The Blue and Gold Campaign for students is hoping to raise $100-million across both UBC campuses over the next three years. This will be the largest fundraising campaign for students in UBC Okanagan history.

“Donors in the Okanagan have already played a crucial role in building our campus and shaping what it is today,” says Deborah Buszard, Deputy Vice-chancellor and Principal of UBC’s Okanagan campus. “We 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.”

This campaign will go to support a wide range of student awards including scholarships, bursaries and experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students on the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses.

One student who benefitted from a UBC donor-funded award was Tushar Dave. They were the recipient of the Deepak Binning Foundation Community Builder Scholarship and are now a third-year undergraduate in medical biochemistry and molecular biology at UBC Okanagan.

“The biggest factor for me was getting a UBC education here at home. I live in Kelowna and it is wonderful for me to have a UBC world-class education at my doorstep” said Dave. “Scholarships allow me to focus on what matters most: my studies. It’s 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.”

Haley Seven Deers is another student who benefited from the campaign. They are now a third-year history and anthropology students at UBC Okanagan.

“These awards are truly life-changing for students,” said Seven Deers, who received a UBC Okanagan Aboriginal Entrance Award. “Every bit, no matter how small or large that you donate is going to have a huge impact on people’s lives. And not just on the students, but on all the people they will affect later in their careers. It’s such a beautiful thing that has such a far-reaching impact within society.”

UBC plans to provide matching funds of up to $5 million for new donations to select Blue and Gold Campaign priorities. This will include bursaries and renewable entrance awards for students with a particularly high academic standing.

The Blue and Gold Campaign will also focus on the graduate student’s experience. It will include opportunities for students to pursue research in conjunction with partners and organizations.

“The 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,” said Kelsey Copes-Gerbitz, a graduate student who studies wildfires at UBC in Vancouver. “My dream for the future is to help enable communities to co-exist with wildfire. Fire isn’t going away, but our people and our landscapes can be more resilient to fire and learn how to co-exist with it better.”

For more information about the campaign, click here.