The Department of Public Safety is well-known to all who attend UMass Boston. The department encompasses the University Police, as well other public safety functions, including the weather monitoring and terrorism threat advising.

The Director of Public Safety at UMass Boston, Philip O’Donnell, states his goal by explaining that, “We are here to protect, serve and assist the university community.”

The Department of Public Safety is probably most well known to the students and faculty who park illegally. The DPS are the ones who leave those little tickets on the windshield if a car is parked in the wrong spot for too long. The money that comes from these misdeeds is used for one of the most generous things on campus: a scholarship.

According to Kelly McLaughlin, the Coordinator for Merit-Based Scholarships at UMass Boston, “The fact that the Department of Public Safety takes the unpleasant necessity of parking fines, and turns it into a direct benefit to students, truly embodies the spirit of public service.”

This “spirit of public service” was “truly embodied” recently when two UMass Boston students won merit-based scholarships of $2,500 each. The Public Safety Scholarship will be awarded from here on out in the spring of each year to students who are planning on going into the public service sector. Other requirements include a “strong academic record [and] some level of financial need,” McLaughlin said.

The students who were awarded the scholarship were Yolanda Burrell and Caroline Ashe. They received their scholarships at a special breakfast reception held in their honor.

Future scholarships will focus on students that have demonstrated an interest in pursuing a degree in the College of Public and Community Service at UMass Boston, and likewise will be going into the field of public service.