“I always cry when they play ‘pomp and circumstance.’ Commencement is important. It is a transition in our lives.”
By being the University Registrar, Linda Allen is the glue that holds commencement together. Allen is in charge of clearing each senior, planning the event, lining the graduates up before the ceremony as well as attending and running countless meetings leading up to the big day.
Big changes are on the horizon for next year’s event. For instance, by this time next year, Northeastern University’s class of 2004 will have already tossed their caps to the sky in victory and entered the work force.
Semester conversion will impact the spring commencement ceremony greatly, making NU the first university in Boston to graduate rather than the last.
By bumping up the date, Northeastern will have to deal with a number of issues never dealt with in the past. For instance, according to Allen, graduates may be walking in the FleetCenter with the ice beneath their feet, depending on how the Boston Bruins fair in their post-season. This of course, was never an issue for the June ceremony.
All in all, the FleetCenter has been receptive to Northeastern’s needs and has agreed to work closely with the university as the commencement date draws near.
But Allen added that the event has always had to deal with one logistical problem year in and year out – The Big Dig. One year the Boston Garden was standing, the next year it was being demolished. Another year, a surface lot was closed due to construction. The T entrance has been altered before and as Bostonians know, detours are not uncommon. Overall, the FleetCenter and Northeastern have continued to make things work, year after year.
“[The FleetCenter] has been very supportive of us and they have been great to work with,” Allen said. “We rarely have gotten a complaint from the FleetCenter or from the university. Generally people enjoy the event.”
In terms of selecting a commencement speaker, NU may have the upper hand, Allen said.
“It might change a speaker’s availability, May 1 moves us up in the process,” Allen said. “It’s interesting about the semester change; we are the latest now and will soon be the earliest to commence in Boston.”
As for planning, Allen said that in order to stay on track for the earlier date, her office must start preparing as early as October of this year. With the new calendar she said, there is plenty of room to be tricked.
“The fall will look like fall … the rhythm of spring will really be deceiving, ” she said. “June will be a completely different month. I’ve been here so long that June has always been commencement month. I don’t know what June will be.”
When Allen stopped to think about it, she laughed, shook her head and said, “June will be summer 1. June will feel like July.”
The more she thought about it, she realized that with semester conversion, especially the months in and following spring semester will have a whole new identity.
“Every month will have a different flavor, a different pace. We will know a lot more a year from now,” she said. “It is important to anticipate pace change.”
By next month, she said, planning will begin for other spring semester events, which is a big shift. The planning usually begins in September.
Despite the changes to planning Allen said she hopes the event itself will not be negatively affected.
“Commencement is the culmination of what everyone does here, what everyone prepares for. It is really what we do well, and it is for everybody to see.”
No matter what month or day the event is held, Allen said she will always look forward to the look on graduates’ faces when they open the cover to their diploma and see their name written in front of them.
“It is unbelievable to see the looks on their faces. There is a huge amount of emotion. Many are surprised that they actually did it.”
