Swarming around campuses, city restaurants and even the subway during the late spring and early summer, graduating students can be found donning their gowns and mortarboards.
Northeastern University was the first to spark the commencement wildfire around the college town that is Boston this year.
On Saturday, May 1, the first spring commencement for North-eastern University under the semester calendar took place at the FleetCenter. Approximately 2,300 graduates seated in the arena made the transition from candidate to recipient of their degrees in the morning ceremony.
“A college degree is not the end of learning,” said President Richard Freeland in his closing remarks. “To stop learning is to stop living … you are the future … congratulations.”
The ceremony began with the NU class of 1954 marching down the center aisle of the building home to the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins. Wearing yellow robes, the golden graduates were welcomed with a round of applause for their return. The mix included three couples who met at NU and later married, Freeland said.
After the faculty entered and took their seats, a short film was played in the dimly-lit arena highlighting areas on campus in and out of the classroom.
What the film did not show were the happenings from the past year.
For the graduates of the class of 2004, the year has been full of news-garnering events such as the cancellation of Springfest, the Super Bowl riots and the death of seven students, at least three of which were slated to graduate.
Director of Spiritual Life Shelli Jankowski-Smith led the guests in a prayer. She said there is a need to “feel the loss on a grand scale” and to recognize the empty chairs and empty spaces for those who have passed away.
Student speaker Brian Bacher, who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in communications and a minor in business, recognized the absence of the Springfest concert in his speech.
“[The cancellation] is a downer, and I was trying to leave people with a positive note,” Bacher said after his speech. “I dropped in the joke [about Springfest] and the response was taken well.”
Bacher, who has been interviewing for jobs in the Boston area, compared what he has learned at NU to the late ’80s television character, MacGyver.
“He was a regular guy who drew what he learned from hands-on experience,” he said.
Graduates will keep learning and applying what they’ve learned from co-op and the classroom, and unexpectedly “you may find yourself with a Swiss army knife, a roll of duct tape and a broken oscillating fan,” he said.
Kyisha Brooks, a member of the Student Government Association and the Resident Student Association, as well as the president of the class of 2004, presented the senior gift to the university. The monetary gift from 800 donors, a record high of $28,150, will be used to support Snell Library.
Commencement speaker, U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona, spoke to the graduates about challenges, mentors and leadership. He asked the graduates to recognize that commencement “is the first day of establishing your legacy.”
Carmona talked about how he dropped out of high school and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1967. After becoming a decorated Vietnam War veteran, Carmona turned around his educational history by attending Bronx Community College and later graduating with top honors at the University of California at San Francisco. Now, he is leading the organization overseeing the health of 290 million Americans.
A leader, Carmona said, is someone who has been entrusted with the destiny of someone else. A mentor doesn’t forget his roots and is constantly looking over his shoulder, and reaching out to future generations, he said.
Carmona concluded his speech by asking students to use their legacy and reputation as currency and to “use peace as currency.” He said legacy, reputation and peace are more important than any monetary value.
“He gave a good speech,” Bacher said. “It would have been better to have someone who could talk to more graduates. He was really focused on health sciences, but it was a good story.”
To close the ceremony, the honorary degrees were awarded, and the students were called up to receive their diplomas.
This year’s honorary degrees were given to Carmona, Gwen Ifill, Steven Browning Sample and Joseph M. Tucci.
Ifill received a doctorate of journalism for her work in broadcast and print journalism for the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and Washington Week on PBS. She was also a reporter for the New York Times and the Washington Post.
Sample received a doctorate of education. He is currently the president of the University of Southern California. Tucci received a doctorate of business administration due to his influence in the technology industry as the chief executive officer of EMC Corporation.
