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More �Ǹ�Թ� students will have the opportunity to gain hands-on research experience, receive personalized mentorship and graduate prepared for meaningful careers that improve well-being for others thanks to a new $2.5 million pledge from alumna Shari Sapp and her husband Rick Sapp.��

The renewed commitment to the builds on the Sapp family’s original investment, which launched the program in 2022. The fellowship allows students to work alongside faculty and graduate student mentors on projects affecting young people and communities, while developing the skills, relationships and professional experience that distinguish them in graduate school and the workforce.��

“The Sapp family’s generosity created a program that helps shape students’ educational experiences while advancing compassionate research,” said Katy Herbert Kotlarczyk, vice chancellor for Advancement. “Their continued investment ensures future students can participate in transformative research that not only prepares them for their next steps but also offers real-world benefits to the communities they will eventually support. I am deeply grateful for the Sapp family’s partnership and their belief in the extraordinary potential of each student.”��

Inspiration for the Undergraduate Research Fellows Program��

For the Sapp family, the inspiration behind the program is deeply personal.��

Their daughter, Juliana Sapp, discovered her passion for research as a CU �Ǹ�Թ� student in 2019, while working on her undergraduate honor’s thesis in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience under the mentorship of Professor and Crown Institute Director, Sona Dimidjian. Through close mentorship by Dr. Dimidjian, she gained practical research experience and found a path that helped shape her career as a licensed clinical social worker and therapist.��

Inspired by the transformative role undergraduate research played in their daughter’s education, the Sapp family’s generosity allowed the Crown Institute to work in partnership with faculty from the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience to create opportunities for future students to have similar experiences. The first cohort of Undergraduate Research Fellows began the three-year program in the fall of 2022 and graduated in 2025. This spring, the second graduating class was recognized during a special Crown Institute commencement celebration honoring their accomplishments.����

“The Undergraduate Research Fellows program sets you up for success,” said fellow Meghan Densmore, a senior studying Psychology and Sociology, with minors in Spanish and Women and Gender Studies. “Whether your goal is to attend a master’s, PhD or medical school program or work after graduation, you leave with a skill set you can't get anywhere else.”����

Preparing tomorrow’s research leaders��

So far, the program has supported 25 undergraduate fellows, with 10 students already graduating from CU �Ǹ�Թ� and pursuing their next academic and professional opportunities. Along the way, fellows have tackled projects with real-world impacts, including research helping breast cancer survivors stay on life-saving medication, exploring identity-based stress among historically marginalized college students, examining the link between adolescent brain development and depression, and studying college students’ experiences with artificial intelligence.����

The program’s benefit extends beyond undergraduate students. Graduate students who mentor fellows also gain valuable teaching, leadership and collaborative research experience that shapes their own careers.��

“Being the teaching assistant for the Undergraduate Research Fellowship was the central touchstone of my graduate training,” said Joey Levy, a doctoral student who served as the program's teaching assistant.��

“That's not at all what I expected when I started in this role, but the fellows quickly became some of my most important teachers. I learned how to mentor, how to partner with students as co-designers and how to collaborate with students in participatory research. These are skills I will carry with me for the rest of my career and ones that are rare to develop this deeply in graduate school.”��