By any measure, 2013 was a banner year for BU. The University was invited to join the Association of American Universities, a consortium of 61 leading research universities in the United States and Canada. BU also joined edX, the MIT- and Harvard-led online learning consortium. Last year also saw the entry of several BU sports teams into the Patriot League. And the University kicked off the Campaign for BU, a $1 billion fundraising effort, the largest in its history.

Behind all those achievements are the thousands of students, faculty, and staff who in President Robert A. Brown’s words are “driving our progress.” Some of their stories—each told in approximately 60-second videos—are the subject of this year’s annual report, titled Our Radical Year.

In this most recent annual report, women’s field hockey head coach Sally Starr talks about the new $24 million New Balance Field, history major Diana Griffin (CAS’13) describes her opportunity to travel to London to study primary source documents for her thesis on Elizabeth I, Jim Petosa, director of the College of Fine Arts School of Theatre, talks about that moment when acting students find their voice, and Ruha Benjamin, a College of Arts & Sciences assistant professor of sociology, explains the social cost of high-tech medicine.