{"id":1992,"date":"2026-02-24T13:43:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T18:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/advancement\/?post_type=cu_story&p=1992"},"modified":"2026-09-08T10:32:56","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T14:32:56","slug":"the-ripple-effect-of-giving-a-spotlight-on-susan-burhoe","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/advancement\/story\/the-ripple-effect-of-giving-a-spotlight-on-susan-burhoe\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ripple Effect of Giving: A Spotlight on Susan Burhoe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n\n \n \n \n \n
\n\n
<\/div>\n \n
\n
\n\n

\n The Ripple Effect of Giving: A Spotlight on Susan Burhoe\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

By: Jenna Hobin<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Susan<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am often reminded what a privilege it is to work in a place where you feel like you are making a difference and where you see the impact of your work on peoples\u2019 lives.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Susan Burhoe, giving back to Carleton is both a personal commitment and a reflection of the values that have guided her career. For nearly three decades, she has supported students through the Centre for Initiatives in Education (CIE), helping to remove barriers that can make higher education feel out of reach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan first came to Carleton as an employee at the campus bookstore after taking a gap year from her former university. What she found was a community that felt different. \u201cI just loved the feeling of being at Carleton\u2014the way I felt welcome, how people would stop to give you directions if you looked lost in the hallway. It just had such a friendly feeling.\u201d That sense of belonging led her to transfer, complete her Bachelor of Arts and Master\u2019s degrees in History, and ultimately build her career at the university. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1997, she joined the Enriched Support Program in its second year. \u201cIt aligned with all my values around the importance of education and making it more accessible to people,\u201d she says. Today, as an Assistant Professor and Recruitment Coordinator in the Centre for Initiatives in Education, she continues that work\u2014supporting students who may feel university is financially, academically or personally beyond what is possible for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, Susan has\u00a0witnessed\u00a0meaningful transformations\u00a0as\u00a0students\u00a0have grown to recognize and\u00a0realize their potential.\u00a0She has also seen firsthand how donor generosity makes those successes possible. Students\u00a0often\u00a0share heartfelt thank-you messages\u00a0to donors, expressing gratitude that someone believed in them when attending university otherwise might not have been part of their journey.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

These experiences inspired Susan to become a donor herself. She made her first gift in 2009 and has contributed monthly since 2011. She supports initiatives within the CIE, including the\u00a0Chicken and Boots Bursary<\/a>\u00a0for students who have experienced homelessness, and the\u00a0Merkley-Haight Award<\/a>,\u00a0established\u00a0by Harvest House, which recognizes students who have overcome adversity and are dedicated to academic success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Susan<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She also\u00a0established\u00a0the\u00a0Burhoe Family Scholarship<\/a>\u00a0in memory of her mother, who was passionate about education but unable to afford university. \u201cFinances were a barrier for my mother to attend university, and now I work for a program helping to remove barriers for individuals coming to Carleton, which feels really full circle.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Susan, generosity is contagious. Seeing colleagues create scholarships inspired her to do the same, reinforcing how shared values can ripple across a community. She hopes others will see that every gift makes a difference. \u201cGiving doesn\u2019t have to be a big amount\u2014those small amounts really add up and help us do things like establishing an emergency fund for students. Even if your donation feels like a humble amount, it can have a real impact.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Behind the Donor Curtain:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Do you have a personal motto \/ credo \/ saying?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe often have this idea that success follows a linear path, but that isn\u2019t always the case and we shouldn\u2019t feel discouraged by that.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would love to work in a museum!\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where is your favourite spot on campus?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I was a student, my favourite spot was above the Loeb cafeteria with the large windows that overlook the river.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What inspires you to \u201cdo good\u201d by supporting the Carleton community?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe students. There are such amazing people who come through that inspire me on a daily basis, more so than any historic or celebrity figure. The students are my greatest source of motivation.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Jenna Hobin \u201cI am often reminded what a privilege it is to work in a place where you feel like you are making a difference and where you see the impact of your work on peoples\u2019 lives.\u201d  For Susan Burhoe, giving back to Carleton is both a personal commitment and a reflection of the values that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":1998,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[43],"cu_story_tag":[],"class_list":["post-1992","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-ccc"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/advancement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/1992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/advancement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/advancement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/advancement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/129"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/advancement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/1992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1999,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/advancement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/1992\/revisions\/1999"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/advancement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/advancement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/advancement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=1992"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/advancement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=1992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}