The BUNITED Student Diversity Conference, open to college students in the Massachusetts area, is a student-led conference consisting of a keynote speaker, workshops, and open discussion. At our first conference there were almost sixty attendees that came together, had meaningful discussion, talked about current events and came up with things that we could individually and collectively do to make our community more united and inclusive. Our keynote speaker was Dr. Timothy Benson and some of our workshops included: "Who Am I: Staying True to Yourself, While Living as a Black Girl in a White World" and "Gender, Sexuality, and Orientation: Being Your Authentic Self".  Below are some testimonials from students who attend last year's BUNITED Conference! 

Testimonials: 

“The BUNITED conference last year was undoubtedly one of the best experiences of my freshman year. I thought that the speakers extremely intelligent and compassionate about their respect fields. I could tell how each person used examples from their specialty to further emphasize the importance of intersectionality. Also, they were unique in that they really wanted to connect with everyone in the groups. The seminars and panel got me to open my mind, and push my thinking to a deeper level in order to be a more productive, socially conscious individual. had such a big impact on me. Overall, the BUNITED Conference proved itself to be extremely valuable, especially to newer students at the university. It had made such an impression on me and I am eternally grateful to have had the opportunity to be apart of it.”

-Gloria Ihenetu

“As an attendee of the BUNITED conference, I found the small group sessions with BU professors addressing race in a multidisciplinary approach to be extremely insightful. As a first generation Asian American studying science at BU, I am often focused on the issues of the Asian American community. As a minority that has been considered passive and somewhat silent towards systemic issues such as blatant stereotyping, underrepresentation and misrepresentation in the media, and educational disparities within the community, it is important to consider the perspective of others in the same fight for inclusive diversity. I am surrounded by issues of science so often that learning from BU professors such as Dr. David Gehrenbeck-Shim and Sophie Godley meant a fresh look at approaching diversity from a more sociopolitical, personal, and psychological point of view. The material was both refreshing and thought provoking. In future conferences, I would love for more of the BU community to be involved, not only in participating in the conference but also bringing the ideas they have learned to spark discourse among their peers.” 

-Sabrina Shih CAS’18

“The BUNITED  conference is, in my eyes, the perfect example of BU Students being observant of the world, and attempting to create solutions to solve the problems in front of them. In their own unique way, the founders of BUNITED created necessary forums for discussions on race, diversity, and inclusion. These discussions are pertinent to global, local, and campus-wide social interactions. It is student-led events like BUNITED that educate us in a setting outside of the classroom, as we develop into young adults. The goal of every BU Student is to graduate and then add positive value to their society. The BUNITED conference directly helps with this; as issues surrounding diversity and inclusion are becoming evermore present in professional and social settings. For minority students to navigate this rapidly changing environment successfully, we need programs like BUNITED.

I believe that after a few years, the BUNITED Conference, with minor improvements and continued support from the University, has the potential to become a staple of Boston University. The conference will continue to grow each year as students hear about positive experiences from those who attended in previous years. Eventually, it is my hope that more allies will attend the conference. At that point BUNITED will be achieving its most importing goal: to unite people from all backgrounds through meaningful conversation and dialogue.”

- Justin Flynn Questrom ‘17