Commencement 2012
The 2012 commencement ceremony for BU Law has been scheduled for
Sunday, May 20, 2012 at 9:00 a.m.
in Agganis Arena, 925 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston.
We are pleased to announce that this year's commencement speaker is
Roderick L. Ireland,
Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.
Roderick L. Ireland is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court. A native of Springfield, Massachusetts, he received his Bachelor of Arts from Lincoln University; Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School; Master of Laws from Harvard Law School; and Doctor of Philosophy in Law, Policy, and Society from Northeastern University. Chief Justice Ireland began his legal career in 1969 as a Neighborhood Legal Services attorney, then worked as a public defender with the Roxbury Defenders Committee, as chief attorney, deputy director, and executive director. He was Assistant Secretary and Chief Legal Counsel for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance, and Chair of the Massachusetts Board of Appeal on Motor Vehicle Liability Policies and Bond.
Chief Justice Ireland has been a jurist for more than thirty-four years, serving as a judge of the Juvenile Court from 1977 to 1990, after which he was appointed an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court (1990-1997). He was first appointed as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court in 1997, by Governor William F. Weld. He became the Senior Associate Justice in 2008. In 2010, he was appointed as the thirty-sixth Chief Justice by Governor Deval Patrick and was sworn in on December 20. Chief Justice Ireland has been an adjunct faculty member at Northeastern University since 1978, and on the faculty of the Appellate Judges Seminar at New York University Law School since 2001. He is the author of the Juvenile Law volume of Thomson/West Publishing's Massachusetts Practice Series, the second edition of which was published in 2006, as well as law review articles. When he was appointed to the Supreme Judicial Court in 1997, he was the first African-American Justice in its then 305 year history and now serves as its first African-American Chief Justice.
Regalia
Everyone who participates in an academic ceremony on Commencement Day is required to wear a cap and gown as approved by the University.
The deadline for ordering academic dress is Thursday, March 15, 2012. Cap and gown orders are placed online through Barnes & Noble at BU’s vendor, Herff Jones. You can place your cap and gown order, and order personalized commencement announcements, by visiting https://collegegrad.herffjones.com/.
Please follow the steps outlined below to gain access to the ordering options:
1. Choose “Boston University” from the first drop-down menu
2. Choose “On-Campus Doctoral Student” from the second drop-down menu
3. Choose “Dental, Law and Medical Students” from the third drop-down menu
4. Click the green “Continue” button to access the ordering options
For orders placed before the March 15th deadline, the basic rental package for Doctoral regalia is $85.00 and includes the following items: tam, gown, tassel, hood and 10 generic announcements. Students can order 25 personalized commencement annoucements for an additional cost of $65.95. Please note that personalized announcement orders must be placed by the March 15th deadline.
You may pick up your cap & gown at Barnes & Noble at BU from Sunday, April 22nd – Friday, May 11th. Be sure you have the right cap and gown for your degree when you pick them up at Barnes & Noble. All rentals are on a first-come, first-serve basis for sizes, so please don’t wait until March 15th to place your order!
LL.M.s: The BU Law regalia you pick up from Barnes & Noble should be black and will look like this:
Please note that rentals must be returned prior to May 24 to avoid late charges, and transcripts will be withheld by the University from any student failing to return rental items. Return locations will be posted at Barnes & Noble at BU and at Agganis Arena.
For further information regarding cap and gown orders, feel free to contact Barnes & Noble at BU at 617-236-7402.