50th Anniversary

The Boston College PULSE Program is a pioneering service-learning program that has offered 3.2 million hours of service to the greater Boston community throughout its 53-year history.

PULSE by the Numbers

3.2 Million

Service Hours
Since 1970

17,500

PULSE Students
Since 1970

57

Present Day
Community Partners

PULSE connects the world in a way that other programs don't; people who normally would not talk to each other or know each other or develop a relationship are able to do that through PULSE. I think that, to me, is the most valuable thing about service learning opportunities鈥攊t's not abstract, it's real.
lyndia downie, president & executive director, pine st. inn

Featured Interviews

Watch extended interviews with key members of the PULSE Community.

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Patrick Byrne photo

Patrick Byrne
Founder, PULSE Program

鈥淚t was a time of great social upheaval in the country. The civil rights movement had been developing for about five or six years and Martin Luther King Jr had been assassinated the previous spring..."

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Meghan Sweeney photo

Meghan Sweeney
Cooney Family Director, PULSE Program

鈥淎s students get to know people, their hearts are broken open and they begin to care in a deeper way 鈥 they experience sadness, but they also experience joy."

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Lyndia Downie Photo

Lyndia Downie
President & Executive Director, Pine Street Inn

鈥淯ltimately I see the PULSE students as being ambassadors 鈥 they have a role to play in telling the stories of our guests..."


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Jonathan Scott Photo

Jonathan Scott 鈥79
Founder & President Emeritus, Victory Programs

鈥淚 have been in my PULSE placement since the mid-70's 鈥 actually it's really the only job I've ever had.听 Slim resume me!"

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Shawn Copeland Photo

M. Shawn Copeland
Professor Emerita, PULSE Program

鈥...听they learn something about what it means to be in solidarity with other people 鈥 in an honest way..."

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Anthony Smith Photo

Anthony Smith 鈥19
Suffolk County House of Correction PULSE Alumnus

鈥... building compassion and building honest, vulnerable relationships... made me critically reflect on the criminal justice system..."


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Tammy Lee Photo

Tammy Lee 鈥19
Boston Living Center PULSE Alumna

鈥淧ULSE is probably the best opportunity to learn in class and apply those methods outside of class..."

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Andrew Weisner Photo

Andrew Weisner 鈥21
Haley House PULSE Alumnus

鈥...it's a different type of soup kitchen because it's a much more personal one..."

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Elizabeth Coscia Photo

Elizabeth Coscia 鈥20
The Work Force Youth Program PULSE Alumna

鈥淚t might not always mean helping a kid get an A on his test; it also just means listening to how their day was..."

Share Your PULSE Story

In celebration of 50 years of service learning, PULSE is collecting impact stories from alumni/ae to share with others. We invite you to contribute to any of the following questions:


What is a particular class memory you have and how did it shape you? This could be a reading, a topic, a professor, a classmate, a discussion, etc.

What is a particular service memory you have and how did it shape you? This could be a supervisor, a client, something that happened at your service site,听etc.