Video: Highlights from BU’s 149th Commencement
A return to pre-pandemic protocols as University bids farewell to the Class of 2022
Video: Highlights from BU’s 149th Commencement
A return to pre-pandemic protocols as University bids farewell to the Class of 2022
Boston University’s 149th Commencement on Sunday, May 22, was not for the faint of heart. Searing temperatures and high humidity made it feel close to 100 degrees on Nickerson Field, but couldn’t dampen the celebratory mood as thousands of family members and friends cheered on the 3,648 undergrads and 4,113 advanced degree candidates on hand.
Commencements are always worth honoring and saluting, but this year’s was especially notable: it marked the first time since 2019 that the University has held a traditional “normal” Commencement. Students could invite an unlimited number of guests, masks were optional (and given the heat, many elected not to wear one), and all of the usual pomp and circumstance was in ample evidence as the Class of 2022 filed onto the field.
Two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author Bob Woodward (Hon.’22), who first gained national prominence in the 1970s for his reportage of the Watergate scandal that ultimately led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon, delivered the Commencement address and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. Preceding Woodward at the podium was Amanda Berke (CAS’22, GRS’22), this year’s student speaker. The other honorary degree recipients were Marylou Sudders (CAS’76, SSW’78, Hon.’22), Massachusetts Secretary of Health and Human Services, Doctor of Laws; BU trustee and philanthropist Richard Shipley (Questrom’68,’72, Hon.’22), Doctor of Humane Letters; and human rights lawyer Gay J. McDougall (Hon.’22), Doctor of Laws.
In addition, the Metcalf Awards for Excellence in Teaching—the University’s highest teaching honor—were awarded during the ceremony. Constance Browne, a School of Law clinical professor of law, received the Metcalf Cup and Prize, and Leslie Dietiker, a Wheelock College of Education & Human Development associate professor of mathematics education, received a Metcalf Award.
Congratulations to each of the 7,700-plus members of the Class of 2022!
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