It’s happened once a year, each year since its inception in 1946. In the presence of more than 1,000 alumni, students, families, and guests Boston University’s Development & Alumni Relations (DAR) and the BU Alumni Association (BUAA) honors its distinguished alumni during an awards ceremony. Considered the highest honor the BUAA bestows on its alumni, the Alumni Awards is a time of celebration and tradition for the leadership and excellence that the BU community breeds.
This year, Travis Roy (COM ’00) was recognized and honored not once, but twice during Alumni Weekend’s 65th Annual Alumni Awards. On Thursday evening, October 27th, Roy received the College of Communication’s Distinguished Alumni Award. On Saturday, October 29th he was honored again during the University’s annual luncheon with the Young Alumni Award, which is given out typically to only one alumnus each year.
“It was an honor to be recognized by the University in regards to The Travis Roy Foundation as well as my speaking career,” Roy said. “It was definitely something to be acknowledged alongside the other impressive recipients both for COM and BU as a whole.”
Roy was one of four people selected from an alumni pool of over 26,000 people for COM’s Distinguished Alumni Award. According to COM’s Alumni Association, Roy was recommended by the Dean, and unanimously nominated by chairs of the department and faculty members.
Aside from receiving the award from COM, Roy was also asked to give the keynote address for the ceremony. When deciding what to speak about, Roy decided to revert back to his Tabor Academy graduation speech entitled “Travis Roy’s Ten Rules of Life”. When Roy read it through this time though, he touched upon how these facts of life related to his BU alumni life: from when his hockey number 24 was retired to the rafters at Agganis Arena till now. There was an immediate standing ovation.
“It was very neat to feel so connected to BU as a whole.” Roy said. “BU had my back, only wishing the best for me after my accident and really turned what was a tragedy into a positive. To be connected this way now, with so many of the administrators, deans, and alumni really creates a close sense of community for a large school.”
In addition to the award from COM, Roy was chosen again by nomination of the entire BU community to receive the University’s Young Alumni Award during the Annual Luncheon at the George Sherman Union. While there were three Distinguished Alumni Awards, Roy was the only one to receive the Young Alumni Award, which is given to one young alumnus each year who is 35 years or younger.
Upon graduation from BU, each student automatically becomes a member of the BUAA along with nearly 300,000 fellow alums. Roy will always be connected to BU through his hockey career and close relationship with Coach Parker, however he will be connected through another special way. Roy is now forever listed amongst some of BU’s greats through both COM’s Distinguished Alumni Award and the University’s Young Alumni Award. It only goes to show that you’re not just a Terrier during your college years, but that you are a Terrier for life.
