More than 3,000 students graduated on May 22 from the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at Boston University’s 149th All-University Commencement celebration on Nickerson Field, the first in-person all-University commencement celebration since 2019.

The College’s 2,240 Bachelor’s degree recipients and 661 master’s degree recipients were also recognized by their departments and programs at ceremonies throughout Commencement week, and at the College Awards ceremony on Friday, May 20. Doctoral students were hooded at a celebration on Friday, May 20.

“There is something truly special about the sound of that roar on Nickerson Field when the College of Arts & Sciences graduates are called for their degrees,” Arts & Sciences Dean Stan Sclaroff told the senior class. “You are a diverse community of anthropologists, astronomers, biologists, chemists, classicists, computer scientists, economists, historians, humanists, linguists, mathematicians, philosophers, physics, political scientists, sociologists, and statisticians, and so much more, and when we bring all of you together — graduate and undergraduate students in our four liberal arts and sciences divisions — your curiosity, your engagement, and your vibrancy is evident… I know you will use your skills and talents wisely and for the betterment of our society and our world.”

Alumni returned to campus to take part in several Commencement celebrations. Social justice advocate Marylou Sudders (CAS’76, SSW’78) delivered the Baccalaureate address at the University’s Baccalaureate address on May 22; Sarah Sullivan ’11, a former Obama staffer, spoke at the Sociology Commencement; Dr. Dawn Bennett ’94, project director at the pharmaceutical manufacturer AbbVie, spoke at the Chemistry Commencement; Rachel Sack ’02, division chief of Innovative Research for the U.S. DOT Volpe Center spoke at the Energy and Envionment; and Jim Gianopulos ’73, head of 20th Century Fox and as CEO of Paramount Pictures, at political science.

“The political consciousness that I gained here at BU never left my side and helped me all along the way — albeit in a different discipline than I studied,” Gianopulos said. “I just know that whatever road you take, what you’ve learned here, your sense of history, political and social change, cultural, geographic and global factors, will stay with you on some level or on a very profound level, but they will always remain.”

“I studied sociology because I want to live in a more beautiful world. I studied sociology because I have the wild idea that maybe we can get to that world if we understand each other a little better,” Sullivan said. “If we stay ruthlessly committed to our own humanity, we can change the world in an instant. This is not your standard commencement day hyperbole. This is real. I have seen it happen.”

Congrats undergraduates who graduated this weekend! Thanks to our alumni speaker Dr. Dawn Bennett for a wonderful speech, and to Dr. Shepherd for the exciting oxygen/hydrogen balloon explosion at the ceremony!#graduation #GoTerriers #explosion #undergraduates @bualumni @BU_Tweets pic.twitter.com/b3qfRpjaNc

— BU Chemistry (@BUChemistry) May 25, 2022

The weekend wrapped up with a student address at Commencement by economics major Amanda Berke ’22, a joint bachelors and masters degree graduate, who told BU Today that she had long dreamt of being the graduation speaker.

“If I can leave you with one single thing from this moment, let it be this: when you are overwhelmed by what is to come, take a deep breath. Imagine turning 180 degrees. See the mountains behind you; each of those peaks was once the largest you had ever climbed,” Berke told her fellow graduates during the address. “Many seemed overwhelming in their turn, but you overcame them all. We know that whatever challenges await on our horizon, we will use our time at BU and the lessons we’ve learned to drive us forward.”

PHOTOS: BU TODAY