BU Today feature: First-Ever Online Senior Breakfast a Celebratory Affair
This article was originally published in BU Today on May 1, 2020. By Amy Laskowski
The annual Senior Breakfast was held as usual this year, but with an unusual twist—the Class of 2020 celebrated it over Zoom Friday morning, with celebrity guests, annual traditions, and the news that while the date for Commencement cannot yet be set, it will most certainly happen. Event emcee Kenneth Elmore (Wheelock’87), dean of students and associate provost, led the festivities live from the GSU Metcalf Ballroom.
The big news from the morning was the announcement by Robert A. Brown, BU president, that while he could not yet give the seniors and their families a date for the 147th Commencement, he would announce it as soon as he could.
“I hope you understand that setting that date is still impossible,” Brown said. “We must imagine what 20,000 friends and family will look like in the stands at Nickerson Field and what 5,000 graduates in red robes will look like on the green field. And while you’re imagining, please throw in a bright, sunny day with no rain. That will happen for the Class of 2020.”
He also announced the Commencement speaker: Victor J. Dzau, president of the National Academy of Medicine.
The Class of 2020 student speaker will be Macken Murphy (CAS’20) and the student singer will be Caroline Bourg (CFA’20), who closed the breakfast event by singing BU’s school anthem, “Clarissima.”