What Goes Up Must Come Down
Time-lapse of BU's 2016 Commencement
After nearly a year of planning, BU’s 143rd Commencement was over in what seemed a blink of the eye. The 40,000 chairs required for the four-day celebration have been carted away, the 6,000 feet of duct tape used behind the scenes have been pulled up, and the 67,083 guests (roughly the population of Portland, Maine) who attended the more than 200 events have returned home.
The four-day event saw some 50 diploma convocations and 6,688 degrees awarded to seniors and graduate students.
Wonder what it takes to pull it all off? The volume of food and drink alone is mind-boggling: 10,000 gallons of coffee, punch, and bottled water, 5,900 gallons of other liquid refreshment, nearly 54,000 hors d’oeuvres, and 2.5 tons of cheese, fruits, and vegetables (the combined weight of the Terrier men’s ice hockey team), along with 33,495 finger sandwiches and 68,400 cookies. Dining Services staff logged 18,000 man-hours over the four-day weekend.
And then there were the nearly 500 volunteers on hand to help ensure that the weekend went smoothly.
And now it’s over—sort of. Within weeks, planning will begin for BU’s 144th Commencement, scheduled for Sunday, May 21, 2017.
Phil Zekos can be reached at pzekos@bu.edu.
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