The Simons Foundation has reaffirmed its support of the Black Undergraduate Mentoring Program (BUMP) in Columbia University’s Department of Biological Sciences with a $42,000 gift, bringing its total support of the program to $83,000.
The Black Undergraduate Mentoring Program aims to address the systemic underrepresentation of Black biological and biomedical scientists by providing Black undergraduates in the biological sciences with assistance in navigating educational trajectories and careers in STEM research and medicine.
Launched in January 2021, BUMP provides mentorship to undergraduates through an existing partnership with the Black Alumni Council of Columbia University (BAC) and with research mentors from the Columbia research community (doctoral and postdoctoral researchers).
“We are thrilled and grateful that the Simons Foundation continues to support this program, which plays an important role in our department’s commitment to advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the biological sciences”, said Brent Stockwell, Professor of Biological Sciences and Chemistry and Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences. “BUMP has been very successful, with the number of mentees almost doubling each of the past three years, for a current total of 82 students doing research in a variety of departments across Columbia”.
In addition to receiving funding from the Simons Foundation, the program has been partially supported by the Graduate School of the Arts & Sciences/Faculty of the Arts & Sciences Graduate Equity Initiative and through Addressing Racism: A Call to Action for Higher Education initiative of the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement.