Contact:
Ellen Fleming
University Advancement
617-287-5327
“Urban Scholars took me—a young man from Orchard Park with no focus and no thoughts beyond high school—and gave me the skills and confidence to go on to college. Since then I’ve been in rooms with powerful people and received prestigious awards, and I’ve been able to help hundreds of young people. I owe all this and much more to Urban Scholars.”
Christopher Byner
Youth Services Division Unit Manager, Boston Centers for Youth and Families
Urban Scholars '85
BA, Brandeis University '89
For Chris, just being at UMass Boston as an Urban Scholar let him experience something he had previously never considered: college life. Through his professional work preventing youth violence, he exemplifies the powerful influence of Urban Scholars. "It changes the world," he says, "by opening the doors of the best colleges to students from challenging environments who then come back to effect change in their communities."