Boston University Celebrates the Class of 2026 at 153rd Commencement
An estimated 5,000 members of the Class of 2026 gathered on Nickerson Field Sunday during Boston University’s 153rd Commencement. Photo by Janice Checchio
Boston University Celebrates the Class of 2026 at 153rd Commencement
Approximately 20,000 guests gathered on a hot, sunny Nickerson Field to honor this year’s graduates
Courage, persistence, and boldness were the themes at Boston University’s 153rd Commencement on Sunday.
“Through my journey, I found that my different identities and roles don’t undercut each other. They make each other stronger,” said Commencement speaker Reshma Kewalramani (CAS’98, CAMED’98, Hon.’26), and president and CEO of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, the global biotechnology company.
Kewalramani described for the 5,000 members of the Class of 2026 the different roles and identities that have defined her: immigrant, physician, mother, and business executive.
“For a long time, I believed life’s biggest decisions demanded an ‘or,’” she said. “Career or family, ambition or presence, boldness or caution.” But instead she said she came to believe in “and” instead of “or”—in what she called “abundance.”
“Abundance is not naive optimism. It doesn’t pretend competition doesn’t exist or that effort isn’t required,” she said. “People with an abundance mindset share information, build teams, mentor generously, and collaborate relentlessly. Scarcity often feels safer in the short term, but abundance always wins in the long run.”
During Sunday’s ceremony on Nickerson Field, BU President Melissa Gilliam presented Kewalramani with an honorary Doctor of Science degree, citing her as a trailblazer whose leadership has led to the development of breakthrough drugs, including a novel treatment for sickle cell disease—the first to use CRISPR-based therapy.
“At matriculation, you entered as individuals,” Gilliam said in her President’s Charge to the Graduates. “And today, at Commencement, you leave as part of a global network of alumni of this great institution. And, yet, I know that there will undoubtedly be times when you feel alone or uncertain. I have experienced these feelings in my own life, and I suspect that all of us here at Nickerson Field have felt this at some point or another. It is part of what it means to be alive, to grow, to reach beyond what is known.
“But here is what I have also come to understand: There is a profound joy in being part of something that is bigger than yourself,” Gilliam said. “And within that greater calling, trusting what matters most to you and letting your values be your compass, even when the path is unclear, and especially when times are challenging.”
Invoking words of the late Howard Thurman (Hon.’67), former dean of Marsh Chapel, she said people have “a deep, steady inner strength, a courage that forms resilience, a courage that allows us to pursue what matters deeply to us, throughout life’s successes and failures alike. A courage that is rooted in a foundational, inner conviction that life has purpose and sustains us. And that what we do matters. A courage which allows us to take risks, to stand in the face of adversity, but to get back up again, and again.”
“So go out into the world, confident in yourself,” Gilliam told the graduates. “Find what speaks to you, and when you do, always be authentically, courageously, and joyously you.”
Gilliam said that kind of courage drove each of this year’s five “extraordinary” honorary degree recipients, who also included: Patricia K. Donahoe MD (Sargent’58, Hon.’26), a pediatric surgeon, researcher, and a trailblazer for women in medicine, who taught Gilliam at Harvard Medical School; Denise Hinton (MET’13, Hon.’26), a nurse, public health executive and former US deputy surgeon general; Hubert Jones (SSW’57, Hon.’26), dean emeritus of BU’s School of Social Work; and John Ward (LAW’76, Hon.’26), a trailblazing civil rights lawyer and LGBTQIA+ rights advocate.
The assembled graduates cheered each of the honorees’ accomplishments in public health and civil rights—and also roared at the mention of Donahoe’s place in the BU Athletic Hall of Fame for her achievements on the Sargent lacrosse team.
Ward, founder of GLAD Law—and the first openly gay male lawyer in Boston and first openly gay man to argue before the US Supreme Court—also invoked Thurman in delivering the Baccalaureate address at Marsh Chapel on Sunday morning. He praised Thurman’s courage in embracing nonviolence to fight oppression. He quoted from Thurman’s own Baccalaureate address at Spelman College in 1980 to find the source of that courage: “Cultivate the discipline of listening to the sound of the genuine in yourself. If you do, everything else will take care of itself.”
Another topic of conversation during the Commencement was the heat; Boston’s warmest day of the year so far delivered sun and often cloudless skies, along with an on-field temperature measured by one thermometer at 93 degrees Fahrenheit. Bottled water was at a premium—community-minded graduates distributed cases of it to their classmates—and at least one faculty member was seen wearing shorts under his robe.
This year’s Metcalf Cup and Prize was awarded to Julie A. Dahlstrom, associate dean of experiential education and clinical professor of law, and director of the Immigrants’ Rights & Human Trafficking Program at the School of Law. The Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching went to Monica Ann Pessina (Sargent’90, CAMED’05), a clinical associate professor of anatomy and neurobiology at the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. The Metcalf Awards are the University’s highest awards for teaching.
Commencement student speaker was Blake Hanrahan (Questrom’26). “We arrived believing that by the time we graduated, the future would make more sense,” Hanrahan told the crowd. “But if the past four years have taught me anything, it is this: Boston University wasn’t trying to just polish us. Its goal was to complicate us. And I think we’re leaving this place just a little bit messier than when we arrived.
“We came to BU expecting answers. Instead, BU gave us better questions,” Hanrahan said. “That kind of mess, it’s not a flaw. It’s the mark of a real education.”
We came to BU expecting answers. Instead, BU gave us better questions.
The Class of 2026 Class Gift of $114,373 was presented by Abraham Budson-McQuilken (CGS’24, Questrom’26) and Riann Cyrus (CAS’26).
The ceremony opened with a stirring rendition of the national anthem by Jerome Boxer (CFA’26)—who also led the singing of “Clarissima” at the end of the ceremony—and an invocation by the Reverend Robert Allan Hill, dean of Marsh Chapel. Cynthia Cohen (MET’77), vice chair of Boston University’s Board of Trustees, called the assembly to order.
Rich Barlow contributed to this story.