Class of 2015 : Graduation Day

scottj
Mon, 18 May 2015 12:45:05 +0000

Dear Readers : Today, Monday, May 18th, marks the end of the Boston College journey for another gathering of undergraduates as the newly minted Class of 2015 makes its debut as BC Alumni. This year’s graduation ceremonies finds me reflecting on my older child’s Class of 2011 graduation day, one most noted for being cold, occasionally rainy, and sporting high temperatures of 50 degrees at Alumni Stadium. I half expected a football game to break out as the words from Fr. Leahy’s Sunday Baccalaureate Mass emploring us to “Remember this place.” still echoed in my mind.

Joking aside, it dawned on me that we are now one “college generation”, a four-year cycle, removed from that 2011 graduation. Ray LaHood (who?), Secretary of Transportation, delivered a memorable commencement speech that made Allison Lantero the most well-known undergraduate among the 20,000 attendees that day. While that was funny (and should be Googled by anyone reading here), I also recall Dean Quigley’s midday speech during the College of Arts and Sciences commencement where he talked about the short “44 months” that defines your Boston College undergraduate career. What at the time seemed a lifetime as a parent sending our first off to college has now become a distant milepost in the rear view mirror.

Sometime around 5:00am this morning, many hundreds of graduating seniors, exhausted from Senior Week activities, made their way to the Beacon Street Garage to watch their last undergraduate Boston College sunrise. My hope is that the Class of 2015 can hold the memories of the last 44 months for a lifetime, starting with your Class Convocation in 2011 and running through today.

Congratulations to all who are about to walk Linden Lane for the final time. Go set the world aflame!