Giving
The Houseman Scholarship
The Robert Houseman and Richard Kirkham Fund for Diverse High School Students Entering the Design Professions
The Robert Houseman and Richard Kirham Fund for Diverse High School Students Entering the Design Professions supports an initiative within BAC’s Summer Academy that is designed to address the deficiencies and disparities in demographic diversity within the design professions.
The BAC Summer Academy is a design exploration program for high school students. Spanning three decades, the BAC Summer Academy currently recruits Houseman Summer Interns from high school students within the Greater Boston and surrounding areas. High school juniors and seniors are prepared for the rigors of undergraduate design education by participating in the five-week summer intensive program. Students are presented with a curriculum consisting of a comprehensive introduction to drawing, design, building technology, architecture, planning, landscape and interior design, along with site visits to firms, building sites and museums.
In 1968, then Urban League President Whitney Young chastised the architectural profession for failing to provide opportunities for aspiring minority designers. Today, only 1.5% of the profession is African American, and percentages of women, Latinos, and other groups constituting a major part of American culture remain grossly under-represented in architecture. The Foundation, through Bill Houseman (brother of Robert Houseman) has recognized this deficiency and established this fund to address this issue at the Boston Architectural College (BAC).
The Houseman Scholarship established a new model for attracting, educating, nurturing, and supporting diversity within undergraduate professional design programs, and ultimately within the design professions.
To contribute to The Robert Houseman and Richard Kirham Fund for Diverse High School Students Entering the Design Professions please contact Constance Ferreira, Associate Director of the Annual Fund.
