From a Terrier dance party that lit up laptops around the world to remote Orientation to everything in between, BU’s appetite for community and connection was undoubtedly fed despite restrictions created by the pandemic.

In fact, almost as soon as the 2020 spring semester switched to remote teaching and learning, many BU student-run clubs and organizations stayed in touch via Zoom, holding meetings, planning for the following semester, or just checking in to see how everyone was holding up while social distancing. Whether it was Stage Troupe doing a staged reading of a Greek tragedy or the women’s synchronized skating team holding a vigorous remote workout or a series of Terrier-organized Pride events, students, staff, and club advisors found ingenious ways to stay connected.

“I was able to see our membership come together when they were all isolated and back home and doing this thing that they love,” says Stage Troupe’s Natalie Ackerman (CAS’22, COM’22), the group’s vice president of special projects at the time. “People in Stage Troupe love doing theater, and we were able to do it, even if it was behind our computer screens.”

That virtual connection, of course, extended to our Commencement ceremonies. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, no family members or other guests were admitted for the May 2021 event. Many parents watched the livestream from wherever they were, in Boston or around the world, from sidewalks, restaurants, living-room couches, backyard decks, even from their cars. In the days following the ceremony, some 36,352 plays had been recorded.

Praising the Class of 2021 as “masters of Zoom,” President Robert A. Brown noted the drastic changes to campus life since early 2020. “I am proud of how well our students have adjusted and adapted, sometimes on short notice, to remote and hybrid learning, to our testing and distancing protocols, and to the restrictions on cocurricular activities or the options for internships or study abroad. We recognize that the senior year for our undergraduate students has been very different from what they likely envisioned when they entered Boston University.”