A sea of “Boston Strong” logos representing resilience and community still flood the streets of Boston 12 years after the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. On Monday, blue and yellow coated the streets as the 129th race cemented what it means to be “Boston Strong”—a phrase created by three Emerson students in the wake of the tragedy. 

On the day of the bombing, three people were killed by two bombs set off in two different locations on Boylston Street, injuring many others.

“That happened right there in front of them,” Jake Perreault, a spectator at this year’s marathon, said about the Emerson students who came up with the phrase. “It only makes sense for everyone to rally together.”

Shortly after the bombing occurred, two resident assistants, communication studies major Lane Brenner and visual media arts major Nicholas Reynolds, and one resident of Emerson’s Little Building, marketing communication major Chris Dobens, watched President Barack Obama’s speech about the tragedy. Inspired by his words, the three students came up with the phrase “Boston Strong.”

Brenner said Reynolds had a great background in design, and Dobens had always wanted to do a shirt fundraiser for a nonprofit. Reynolds designed T-shirts in the traditional Boston Athletic Association colors, blue and yellow.

“We had zero budget,” Brenner said. “All we had were our laptops and our brains and our education and all the things that we had learned at Emerson and we put it to use.” 

She noted how the college’s small tight-neck community support, word of mouth, and social media use made the phrase take off. 

“People were behind it and really wanted to support us,” Brenner said.

Initially, the goal was to sell 100 shirts, according to Brenner. “I woke up the next morning, and we had already way exceeded the goal,” she said.

“We used a lot of the skills we learned in our classes,” Brenner said. “We were having media outlets contacting us directly via our Facebook or our Twitter.”

No profit was made with any of the proceeds, and instead the students donated the over $1 million raised.

“Following whatever it cost for the company that we worked with to make the shirts, all the proceeds went directly into the One Fund and then directly into the funds disbursed to victims and their families,” Brenner said. 

There were several moments where the three of them were asked to copyright the phrase, according to Brenner. They had many conversations about whether or not to incorporate the phrase into their own nonprofit in order to protect it. “Boston Strong” remains a phrase that is not copyrighted or trademarked. 

“Eventually what we came down to fundamentally is that we did not want any one entity to own the phrase ‘Boston Strong,’” Brenner said. “We wanted anyone who felt inspired or who wanted to embrace the phrase to be able to have access to it in whatever way they wanted.”

“It was about how a city, a community, and therefore a global community came together and were stronger because of their resilience in a horrible situation,” she added.

Today, the spirit of “Boston Strong” continues to run through the streets of Boston. The colors of blue and yellow serve as a powerful reminder of resilience that emerged from tragedy in the community.

Five days following the bombing, Red Sox player David Ortiz addressed the crowd at Fenway Park, closing out his speech with, “stay strong.” 

“It was pretty amazing to see such a historic team embrace something that just three college kids made up in their dorm room,” Brenner said.

“I think it is a great slogan,” Leo Haskell, a food cart vendor outside Fenway Park for 23 years, said at the 2025 season home opener for the Boston Red Sox in an interview with The Beacon. “It is a positive thing and [there is] so much controversy in the world today.”

“Let us just embrace the love,” he added.

Brenner finished by mentioning the adoption of the phrase and its relevance throughout the years.

“There are always going to be terrible things that happen in the world,” Brenner said. “But if we are able to lean on one another and truly find the selflessness and grace in our hearts to help those who are struggling, and help those who have been wronged, [then] ‘Boston Strong’ shows how we can be as a society, as humanity, in the best of moments.”