Carrie O'Connor Memorial Travel Fund

Dr. Carrie O’Connor served as Lecturer of French at Boston University and was beloved by her colleagues and students alike. The Department of Romance Studies created a study abroad travel fund to honor her lasting legacy and continue her love of language learning and travel. Through this fund, students can gain the language experience and cultural perspectives that so enriched Carrie’s life and teaching. She always said that “luggage should never be dusty.” With this fund, students can dust off their own luggage as they see the world, build their language skills, and become better global citizens.

Gifts to the Carrie O'Connor Memorial Travel Fund support two $1,500 travel grants per year for students to study abroad in a Francophone country. Your support ensures that Carrie's memory will live on in the experiences and adventures of our students, many of whom will be traveling abroad for the first time. All recipients of the O'Connor Travel Grant have high financial need.

Your donations directly support our students' ability to study abroad. Every donation, no matter how big or small, makes a difference. Here's how you can help:

• $25 - funds a student's meal while abroad
• $50 - funds a student's textbooks and materials for one course
• $75 - funds a ticket to a cultural event
• $100 - funds one week of groceries
• $1,000 - funds airfare for one student to their program site
• $1,500 - fully funds one travel grant
• $3,000 - fully funds one year of travel grants

When getting to know her students, Carrie often told the story of her own travels to France, China, and beyond. She also often talked about her cats Artemis and Apollo, visits to museums, and competing in a baking competition judged by Jacques Pépin. She shared these stories with her students because she wanted them to see that cultural adventures can be found anywhere and that French is one way to unlock them. We, her friends and colleagues at BU, believe in her message. Although Carrie was only part of our community for a short time, her energy, commitment to students, and her passion for French have made a lasting impact on each of us. We hope that through this fund, many more students will be able to discover the world she knew so well.

We are working hard to grow Carrie's fund to ensure that we can support students for many years to come. Every donation means a new chance to give students the experience of a lifetime.